Lament
by Colourcubify
Summary: Male!Bella/Edward. Possessive!Edward. Alternating PoV. Non-canon. Alexander Swan is sent to live with his father when his homophobic mother runs in on him kissing another boy. The sarcastic 17 year old then finds himself stuck in the middle of what is soon to be his least favourite utensil. Send help. Or a beautiful, pale boy. That works too.
1. Prologue

**AN: This is something I've had written for a looong time (two years!), and I haven't worked on for a while, but I plan to soon! XD This is just the prologue. It's pretty much a rewrite of Twilight, but I turned Bella into a boy cause it's better this way xP At the beginning it will follow pretty closely to Twilight, but it will skew off of it soon enough ^^ I hope you'll all like Alex. You donèt get much of a taste of his charater in this, but you will soon enough!**

**Rated T for now, rating my go up.**

**Enjoy! Please R&R! :D**

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**Prologue**

The day my mother realized my sexual orientation would forever be the worst day of my life…

_My best friend, Devon, and I arrived home after school. We both knew of and understood each other's feelings for the same sex. To put it plainly, he was my boyfriend. The boyfriend my homophobic mother could never know about._

_We reached my room and Devon immediately pressed his lips to my own, forcing me against the wall. My body responded on its own: wrapping my arms around his neck and pulling him closer to me. My hair fell between our faces tickling our noses. I began to giggle and soon, so did Devon. Both of us were unaware of the door to my room being completely ajar and the fact that the front door had just slammed shut._

_Devon began kissing me once more, running his tongue across my lips and making me moan in pleasure. He took the slight moment my mouth was open to slide his long tongue in. I could feel him smile into the kiss as he felt my tongue ring. I suppressed a giggle. But all at once, the happy world we had created came crashing down._

_"Alexander Chase Swan! What on earth are you doing?" Renee Swan screamed, making Devon and I pull back from one another immediately. Renee looked from Devon to me and back to Devon, seeming to not understand what she had just witnessed. "Were…were you and that boy just kissing?"_

_I rolled my eyes with a sigh. I knew this day was going to happen eventually._

_"No, mother, we were just playing tonsil hockey," I replied nonchalantly. I felt Devon quiver beside me, resisting the laugh I knew was bubbling in his throat._

_By this time my mother's face was redder than I had ever seen it. Devon tried to move slightly in front of me, but I took his hand gently and pulled him back. Renee's eyes locked on our clasped hands._

_"Alex, sweetie, would it be to much to ask for you to have a talk with your mommy? Just a talk. I promise. Your…friend should probably go, though," she said in a sugary sweet voice. I didn't believe a word of what had just come out of her hateful mouth. Nevertheless, I still squeezed Devon's hand once more as he pecked my cheek and left. He knew better than to get my mother angry._

_"Now, what do you want?" I asked her scathingly. "If you're planning on lecturing me about how 'horrible' and 'wrong' it is to be gay, then forget it! If you hate the idea of me being gay so much then why don't you just send me off to live with father! Then you can live 'happily ever after' with that Phil prick!"_

_A crazy glint came into my mother's eye at that time, and I knew I should have just stayed quiet._

_"Alexander, what a wonderful idea! I'll go buy you your ticket right now!" she began, still using the sweet voice. "But, if you even think about leaving this room before I get back, well, lets just say I warned you, hmm?"_

_I shuddered, thinking of the many things that could mean, and began to pack my bag._

…and that was how I ended up with a one-way ticket to dreary Forks, Washington.


	2. Chapter 1

**AN: So, I had this chapter written for a long time, and just started working on the next one recently...I have been focusing mostly on my FP story "You Mean Hell Isn't Far Enough" because I need to finish it (I'm only one chapter away!) But anyway, here's the first chapter :D Just to tide you guys over so you don't hate me Dx**

**Also, I've changed the rating for safety, because I _feel_ like it may get steamy later on :O Just a warning. If you're not into that, stop reading now, or keep reading, and I'll be sure to warn you when it comes to that chapter :D**

**Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight, Stephanie Meyer does. I just like messing with the characters. I also do not own any products mentioned in the story.**

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**Chapter One**

The moment the plane's wheels touched the ground, my stomach heaved. Just reaching the appropriately titled 'barf bag' in time, I retched out the meager, half digested meal I had eaten while on board. In most cases, I wouldn't have bothered with it, but, seeing as my mother so graciously forgot to feed me before sending me out on the five-ish hour long plane ride _and_ forgetting my immense fear of heights. Gee, mom, thanks.

After smiling apologetically at the young stewardess, who couldn't be more than a few years older than I was, I left the plane, only stopping to grab my belongings from the rotating carousal before making my way to the parking lot of the small airport. I honestly didn't know how my mother had gotten me a ticket to go straight to the small town of Port Angeles, and frankly, I didn't want to.

It had been at least four years since I'd last seen my father, but he was easy enough to pick out. Charlie Swan was the chief of police in Forks, with a big brown moustache and thinning brown hair. He was also the only one standing next to a police cruiser. I sighed before flicking my black hair out of my face and walking towards him.

"Hey, dad," I murmured once I came to a halt in front of him. His eyes widened in surprise, as well as skepticism, and began to scrutinize me.

"You don't _look_ like my Alex. He was always a short lil' guy with ever shorter brown hair. Looked God awful, it did," he accentuated his speech by raising hand to show how tall I used to be, "I was nearly _always_ embarrassed to go out in public with him. Made 'im wear a hat all the time," Charlie ranted. For a moment I was angered that he didn't even recognize his own son, but then again, I _had_ changed a lot in the last four years, unlike him.

I had unusually pale skin for someone who used to live in Arizona. You'd think that being out in all that heat would tan me up a bit, right? Yeah, didn't work so well for me. My limbs were long and lanky, but not enough to make me basketball star sized. They made me look more awkward than anything. I was about 5' 9", which was tall enough for me. I always wore long sleeved shirts and pants, even on the warmest of days, although I doubted I would get any of _those_ now. My eyesight was bad, which heralded the need of my thick-rimmed, nerdy-looking glasses, though I opted for contacts most days. I had managed to '_borrow'_ my mom's credit card one day, and had bought purple-tinted prescription contacts online.

At around age fifteen, I'd started growing my hair out, but only at the front. I'd kept the back of my hair short and spiky looking while the hair from my ears forward grew to my chin in length. Finally, once that arduous growing process was complete, I'd bleached it as white as was possible.

Some people would call me emo, others Goth. I suppose those titles fit, considering I even wear eyeliner most days. A few years back, when I realized my sexual orientation, I'd even began to cut, out of terror of what my mother would do to me if she ever found out. It was a way of venting my feelings, though short lived as it was, as I had a habit of cutting too deep, not bothering to stop the flow and loosing too much blood. After a few visits to the hospital, and a few… _'scoldings'_ from my mother, I was finally able to stop. The marks remained, constant reminders of what I mustn't do once more.

"Dad," I said quietly, glancing up at him, "It's me. It's Alex."

Charlie looked me in the eyes; saw the sincerity in my chocolate brown gaze.

"My Alex," Charlie whispered before sweeping me in his large arms and hugging me. Once he set me down, he gave me another once over.

"You cleaned up good, Alex," he told me gruffly. I smiled slightly at his attempt at sentimentality. "You ready?"

I nodded once while looking around. The scenery hadn't changed much. Green. Everywhere you looked was green. And wet. I'd read somewhere once that Forks was one of the most rained on places in all of the United States. Oh, how lovely. While I inspected the landscape, Charlie had already heaved my bags into the trunk of the cruiser. We slipped into the black and white car just as the first specks of rain began to fall, soon increasing in velocity and size. I scrunched up my face as I looked at the heavy trail of water flowing down my window. I heard Charlie laugh.

"Not fond of the rain, are ya boy?" he questioned. I shook my head vehemently in answer. "Don't talk much either…" he added to himself, but I managed to hear it. A small smile crept on my face as I answered,

"Never been much of a social boy, pops,"

Charlie's booming laughter filled the car.

"Pops? _Pops?_ I'll 'ave you know boy, you can _walk_ to the house if ya keep _that_ up!" he threatened jokingly. I merely smirked in response.

A good hour of silence later, filled only by the static-y music coming from the radio, Charlie slowed the cruiser and pulled into a gravel driveway. I glanced out the window of the car, and through the darkening sky, saw the small, two-story house of my youth.

"Alex, I er, got you a preset," Charlie told me while rubbing the back of his neck uncomfortably before we got out of the car. I shot my eyes over to his large form in the gathering darkness.

"What? I don't need anything," I told him firmly.

"Well, you got something," he countered gruffly, "And I didn't think you'd be wantin' a ride to school from _me_ everyday."

At this sentence, my interest perked. A car? I'd never had a car before, even with having my full license for about four months now. I'd only ever driven my friends cars. Mother wouldn't even let me _near_ her 'precious little baby'! Precious my ass, especially after I keyed it while waiting for her to take me to the airport. I had just felt like leaving her something to remember me by.

While I was reminiscing, Charlie had left the cruiser and was standing next to a big blob in the driveway. I pulled my sweater hood up to cover my head before getting out myself and starting over to him, only to stop once I made out what said blob was.

Parked beside my father was one of the biggest trucks I'd ever seen. It looked old, yet durable, and was painted with a dark red colour. It looked like one of those shit-kicking trucks that could take anything, and give it right back twice as hard. I couldn't take my eyes off it, even if I'd wanted to.

Running over to it, I began to inspect every rusted patch, everywhere where paint was missing, the tires, doors, lights. I even lifted the hood, careful not to put it high enough as the let the rain in, and checked the engine. It wasn't that I knew what could go wrong with cars, because I had no idea, but it was more of a show for Charlie. I figured I should make a big deal over the first present he's given me in years. It wasn't bad for a truck this old, if my guess was right. In fact, it seemed in fairly good condition. That seemed strange to me, so I decided to ask Charlie about it later.

"So?" Charlie asked warily. I closed the hood and smiled softly at him in thanks.

"I love it," I told him quietly. He rubbed his neck again, abashed. Charlie was never one for any strong emotions.

"Well, let's get inside now, don't wan'cha catching a cold for school tomorrow, now do ya? I'll get yer stuff, you just go in." Charlie told me. I nodded, quickly realizing how cold it could be outside at ten pm when you're wet.

Once inside the safe haven of my new home, I looked around. Nothing had changed since the last time I was here. There were old pictures of me as a baby, growing up, and of mother. I glared at her icily, even though there was no way she could see or feel it. Why did dad still have pictures of her in here? Did he still have feelings for her? No. There was absolutely _no_ way that one was correct. I knew for a fact that my dad was gay, like me. That was why mother left him.

The walls were the same colours, furniture in the same places; even the bright yellow cupboards mother had painted many years ago were still here. There was only one word for all this: sad.

Charlie had gotten inside by this time, so I stopped inspecting the house. He headed towards the stairs, telling me over his shoulder that my room was up there. The same place it had always been. I jogged the stairs to catch up and entered the room.

It only took me a moment to decided that Charlie needed a renovator. The same bland room stood before me, as unchanged as the rooms below. The only thing that had been different over the years was replacing the crib with a bed and the addition of an oh-so-useful, ancient computer.

As I set my bags down on the bed, Charlie left the room in silence. One of the best things about Charlie is that he doesn't hover. Say, for example, if I had a _guest_ up here, he wouldn't come snooping into my room even if the door was open. I sighed, then sat down beside my bag. I had school tomorrow. I couldn't be thinking about _that_ now. I had enough to worry about, like communicating with people.

See, I had never really been able to relate to people my age, due to the fact that I had to grow up quickly because of my mother. Then again, I hadn't really been able to relate to anyone. It was as if that part of my brain was malfunctioning all the time.

I groaned and flopped back on the bed, taking off my glasses to rub my face. Maybe if I just closed my eyes for a minute, I could think this through better…

* * *

I blinked blearily as I sat up and looked at my clock: 8:30 AM.

Jumping up quickly, I realized that I was still wearing my clothes from yesterday. _'I must have fallen asleep,'_ I told myself. Rolling my eyes, I grabbed some fresh clothes from my suitcase I had yet to unpack (a long sleeved red shirt that hugged my body tightly, black skinny jeans and fresh underwear) and headed into the small bathroom we had to share. And man was I glad I only had my toothbrush, eyeliner, hairbrush and flatiron to fit here.

The counter space around the sink was covered completely with hair products, beauty products and, ugh, _sex_ products. Yeah, I don't think I really needed to know what my dad uses during that, but life sucks like that. As my old classmate used to say, _'Life's a bitch and then you die'_. Appropriate.

I plugged in my straightener then began brushing my teeth. They were reasonably straight after years of braises. I was just glad when I finally got them off. I popped in my contacts, trying my best to not touch my eyes. I couldn't stand the thought of my finger in my eye, but that was the price I payed to wear contacts.

After combing my hair, I straightened it, put on a bit of eyeliner, then grabbed a hoodie from my room and went downstairs. There was a note on the table from Charlie, telling me that he was at work already and would be home right after. He also wished me good luck. Yeah, right. I needed more than luck to survive this.

I went outside after grabbing my jacket since it was raining (big surprise!) then locked the door and headed to my truck. Once inside, I slid the key into the ignition and started it up. A loud roaring sound could be heard from the engine. I sighed quietly, but ignored it mostly. A truck this old _had_ to have its faults.

I drove towards town until I saw a sign that proclaimed that the certain group of buildings in front of me was Forks High School. To me, it looked like just a bunch of nearly identical building made next to each other, but apparently it was more than that.

I looked at the small light up clock in the truck: 8:56. _'Well damn,'_ I thought, hurriedly getting out of my truck, locking it, and heading towards a building labelled FRONT OFFICE. I stepped inside quickly and sighed contentedly at the warmth and overall dryness of the room. There were potted plants scattered about the room._ 'As if there wasn't enough of the green stuff outside,'_ I thought, smirking slightly. The redheaded receptionist looked up at me as I entered. She was wearing a purple tee shirt that seemed too small for her plus-sized body. I wondered vaguely if everyone in this town liked dressing awfully, but pushed the thought down, resisting another smirk.

"Can I help you?" she asked me. Well, more like _purred_ at me, as she looked me up and down. Sorry, ma'am. You're missing a certain piece of anatomy I tend to go for.

"I'm Alexander Swan," I told her quietly, and I saw he eyes light up slightly. Of course everyone would know about me. I'm the police chief's son finally back.

"Of course," she said a little less flirty. Guess no one wants the chief to bust their ass for pedophilic tendencies towards his son. "I have your schedule right here, and a map of the school," She dug through some papers and eventually found the one she was looking for: my schedule. She also took a small map off another pile and proceeded to show me where all my classes were, leaning in only a _bit_ too closely. Once she had finished, she handed me another slip of paper for all my teachers to sign before I returned it at the end of the day. I thanked her quickly, grabbed my papers and nearly ran out of the office, only pausing to look at the time: 9:13. Shit.

I all but ran to my first class, English. Once I arrived at the door with the large '3' painted on it, I opened it slowly, as to not make much noise. I could hear the teacher lecturing students about certain things. I really didn't care what. As I turned my back to the class to close the door as quietly as I could, someone cleared their throat angrily. I froze and turned hesitantly.

"What are you doing?" a tall man asked, "Who are you?"

"Alexander Swan," I murmured. The teacher gawked at me; as did the few students close enough to hear, making me flush. I handed him my slip, aware of the muttering beginning to arise behind me. I stole a glance at his nameplate, identifying him as Mr. Mason before going to sit in the empty seat he pointed to.

"Now, before I was _interrupted,_ I was going over some key author's you will be covering over the term…"

I zoned out. This was stuff I had done last year. I figured I'd have no trouble.

I doodled for the rest of the class until the bell rang. As I was about to get up to leave, an awkward looking girl with jet-black hair leaned across the row to talk to me.

"You're Alexander Swan, aren't you?" She looked like the nerdy, extremely helpful type.

"Alex," I corrected her. I hated anyone who used my full name, despite my fixation of introducing myself as such. It was just a tick I had. Even still, everyone around our desks turned to look.

"Where's your next class?"

I checked my paper, which I had yet to put away. It was now covered in doodles of unicorns fighting zombies. I quickly slung my arms over it, mostly hiding it from view.

"Uh, Government in building six. With Jefferson,"

"I'm headed towards building four, I could show you the way…" Yeah, definitely helpful, if not over the top. "I'm Angela," she added.

I smiled slightly, "Thanks,"

We walked out into the rain after she grabbed her jacket. As soon as we were outside, she began an uninvited game of twenty questions.

"So, this is a lot different from Phoenix, right?"

"Very," I decided to keep my answer short. Maybe it would hint at her to stop this inane game.

"It doesn't rain there very much, does it?"

I shook my head 'no'.

"Wow, what must that be like?"

"Sunny," I told her.

"But, you don't look very tanned," she pointed out.

"My mother is part albino," I replied, shrugging dramatically while sighing. "It's a curse I will always be burdened with," She looked at me curiously and I sighed in exasperation. "It was a joke,"

"Oh," she said then burst out laughing. Wow. '_That is so sad_,' I thought, shaking my head.

Angela led me straight to the clearly marked door before saying goodbye.

"Good luck," she told me as I turned the handle of the door, "Maybe we'll have other classes together too!" I looked at her, flipping the hair out of my eyes and giving her the full attention of my purple-tinted orbs. Her cheeks lit up almost instantly, and with a hasty 'see you later', she all but ran to her next class. I smirked slightly at her retreating back before entering the room.

The rest of the morning passed in a flash. I nearly instantly hated my Trigonometry teacher, Mr. Varner, since he was the only teacher who actually made me stand up in front of the class and introduce myself. I had to resist the urge to flip him the bird as I went to my seat.

Questions and stares followed me the whole morning. Most of my answers were lies, but they didn't need to know that. For all they knew, I was the chief's happy-go-lucky son who loved everything about Forks. That's what I told them, and that's how things stayed.

One boy, who's name I still couldn't remember, even after being told at least twice, was in two of my classes. I didn't really pay attention enough to figure out what ones, but I knew he was there due to his near constant chatter about the rumors and gossip going around the school. I could care less.

He led me into the cafeteria and over to a table with his friends. I saw the girl, Angela, from the morning wave at me excitedly, so I shot her a quick smile and a nod before placing myself in the midst of the boy and his friends, whose names passed right by me. What can I say; none of them were cute enough to hold my attention.

And then I saw them.

They were beautiful, plain and simple. Three boys and two girls, looking nothing alike, yet still uncannily similar, sat together in a solitary corner of the cafeteria. One of the boys was large, like a football player or body builder, and had dark, cropped hair. A second, taller looking boy was thinner, yet still managed to look just as tough, with curly, sandy blonde hair, while the last boy was lanky and quite tall with messy, bronze-coloured hair on top.

The girls were two different entities all together. The taller one was super-model gorgeous, with long hair, the same honey blonde colour as the one boy. The other, smaller girl had short, black pixie-cut hair and delicate looking features.

Though, despite their differences, they all had the same chalky white skin tone, the same deep-set bags under their eyes, making them look as though they hadn't slept in days, the same near-black eyes. Not to say that these factors diminished from their beauty. No, they seemed to enhance it, if anything. I was having trouble deciding who was the most beautiful. It would have to be between the tall, blonde girl and the younger looking bronze-haired boy. In front of each of them was an untouched tray of food. As I watched, the small girl stood up gracefully, emptied her tray, and left. I frowned, curious.

"Um," I started, talking to no one in particular, "Who are _they?_"

As if he'd heard me from across the cafeteria, the bronze-haired boy looked over to our table. His dark eyes locked with mine, and my breathing stopped. Almost as quickly though, he averted his eyes, disinterest colouring his face. I frowned again.

"Oh, them?" the boy next to me asked, jealousy in his tone, "They're the Cullens and the Hales. The blonde ones are the Hales: Jasper and Rosalie. The other two are Emmett," he nodded to the larger boy, "and Edward. The girl who left was Alice."

So, the one who'd been kind enough to shun me was named Edward. It was a rather unusual name for people in this century. All of them were. But maybe that's what they did in this town? Name their children odd names.

I ducked out of the way as a milk carton sailed over my head, hitting the boy I'd been speaking to square in the face.

"Oh, sorry Mike!" someone called. I heard him mumble curses under his breath next to me.

So. That blew my theory right out of the water. His name was Mike, an extraordinarily common name.

"They're all rather good looking," I murmured, also noting how Mike's face reddened at the statement.

"The girls are a'ight," he said haughtily. I raised a single eyebrow at him, then turned my face back to the beautiful people across the room. "But the chicks are all with one of the guys! The only one that's single is that Edward fag. He's been at this school for three years and has never even _looked_ at a girl—"

"Is that a problem?" I asked, cutting across his rant. "Do you find it morally corrupt that he may have an interest in the same sex?"

"Dude, what's your problem? Oh, don't tell me your one of them,"

My eyes flashed.

"_Them?_" I asked icily.

"A fagg—"

Before the word had even left his mouth, I had him by the collar, suspended in the air. I was aware that people were staring, but at the time I couldn't care less. I brought his frightened face closer to mine before hissing in his ear,

"Don't even_ think_ about saying that word around me again. If you do, I promise you, you won't be able to say it ever again." I smiled. "And _yes_, I'm gay." I finished sweetly before dropping him unceremoniously to the ground, turning on my heel, and leaving. I could hear the muttering following me, as well as a pair of footsteps. I didn't turn to see who it was, instead opting to head outside.

As soon as the chill air reached me, I sighed in relief. '_Well,_' I thought sarcastically, _'this is turning out to be a great day!'_

"Uh, excuse me?" a timid voice said behind me. I glanced out of the corner of my eye at them. It was one of the boys from the table. What was his name? Ellis, Erin…

"I'm Eric." Ah that was it. "I saw what happened in there…that was really brave of you, standing up to Mike like that."

I hummed in acknowledgment, flicking my hair. I noticed Eric's eyes follow the movement before speaking again.

"Umm, I don't mean to be rude, but was that true? Are you actually gay or were you just saying that to shut Mike up?"

I smirked at his question. Typical that people from a town this small would be so narrow-minded.

"Yes, I'm actually gay. Does that bother you, Eric? Does it make you cringe that I like it up the—"

"Oh, gosh..." Eric cut me off with a nervous laugh. "I didn't really need to know all the details, but no, it doesn't bother me. So long as you don't start coming on to me or anything..."

I snorted a laugh.

"Just because I'm gay, doesn't mean I'm going to jump every guy I see. Besides," I said with a wink, "Your not really my type."

I watched with joy as his face lit up a delightful red colour. I walked past him towards the door, pinching his cheek as I passed.

"C'mon," I told him, "I'd rather not be late for any more classes on the first day."

* * *

As we entered the classroom for Biology, Eric split from me and headed towards a desk in the middle of the room. I noted there was someone already sitting in the seat next to him. My eyes scanned the room for another seat. Ah! There was an open one by the window, next to one Edward Cullen. I went to the teacher's desk to get him to sign the slip I was given, before turning to sit.

I ignored the murmuring that followed me as I crossed the room and sat down beside the brooding boy. I noticed him stiffen and lean away from me, going so far as to move his stool away slightly. What, did I smell bad? I frowned, breathing in to see if I could smell anything unusual: mint shampoo and my cologne. Nothing out of the ordinary.

I dared a glance at him. As I turned my head, our eyes met. Mine widened at the expression in his: anger, hatred. Confused, I looked away and tried to listen to the teacher lecturing. Then something odd hit me.

Black.

His eyes were black.

I furrowed my brow confusion. That was _definitely_ not an ordinary eye colour. Did he wear contacts too?

Beneath my fringe, I studied him. His posture was tense, never changing. One hand was clenched around the table edge, the other one his face, seemingly covering his nose and mouth. I pouted. That must be to block out my 'stench'. Maybe he just wasn't a cologne guy. His back was hunched, stretching his shirt over the lean muscle, and revealing a little of the pale skin of his lower back. His shirtsleeves were pushed back, revealing taut forearms, just as pale as the skin on his back. I felt myself sigh lightly before mentally slapping myself. Uhg. I can't believe I just checked him out.

After what seemed like forever, the bell rang. Edward was out of his seat immediately, leaving the room. I watched him go, furrowing my brow. This guy was weird.

"Are you Alexander Swan?" a too-preppy voice asked. I turned my head slowly to see a pretty blonde girl smiling a bit too widely at me.

"Alex," I said softly, frowning ever so slightly.

"I'm Jessica!"

_'Of course you are.'_

"Hello, Jessica," I replied coolly.

"Do you need any help finding your next class?"

_'If I had a nickel for every time I've been asked that today…'_

"I have gym. I'm fairly certain I can find it myself, thank you."

"That's my next class too! We can go together!"

_'Dear Lord, kill me now.'_

"That's really not necessary…"

"Nonsense!" she scoffed, grabbing my arm. I noticed all the glares she was getting from the other girls still in the class. Apparently word hadn't gotten around yet that I was gay, despite my public declaration in the cafeteria. I didn't really peg Mike as someone to keep the news of a new 'fag' at school to himself.

All the way to the gym, she chattered on about this and that non-stop. As we reached the doors, Jessica must have gathered her courage, for she asked, "Did you stab Edward Cullen with a pencil or something? I've never seen him like that."

_'Way to go, weirdo, you made people think I do random acts of violence,'_ I scolded myself.

"That's who that was?" I lied smoothly. No need to get her panties in a twist.

"Yeah!" she confirmed, pouting slightly, "He looked like he was in pain or something!"

"I'm not sure. I've never spoken to him."

"He's a little odd,"_ 'I concur. Maybe you're not so bad aft-' _"But he's still totally hot! I'd hook up with him anytime." _'And there you go ruining my opinion again,'_

We entered the gym and parted. I went to the gym teacher, or 'Coach Clapp' as he informed me to call him, and got him to sign the sheet I had. He got me a uniform, but thankfully let me sit out for today. Something about me ruining his teams. I wasn't going to argue. I hated gym. It always ruined my hair. I ignored the side of me that told me what a stupid reason that was, but my flamboyant side kicked it to the back of my mind.

The last bell finally rang and I left as soon as I could. I went outside to the office to return the slip. Now, who the in the hell's idea was it to make the office in a different building? I call shenanigans.

It wasn't raining anymore, thankfully, but there was a cold wind now, biting into my face. I put my jacket's hood up to block some of it, pouting again. After a long, arduous journey, I reached the office. I entered the small building and almost left again. Of course he'd be here. Edward _Freaking_ Cullen. King of the Douches. I recognized the tense posture and bronze hair. He was having a hushed conversation with the receptionist. I leaned against the door, waiting for her to be free.

I overheard him asking her to switch Biology to a different time. '_Oh, come on,_' I thought exasperatedly. There was no way this could be about me. Unless this guy was an even bigger asshole than I had originally thought. There were a lot of people here who were proving that to be true.

The door blew open suddenly, pushing me forward and into him. Oh Lord, this was not good.

As my hands hit his back, I felt him tense up even further, if that was possible. I scrambled backwards to the safety of the wall again as he whipped around to glare at me. I felt my face light up as his eyes stuck me to the wall like a needle through a bug.

"Never mind then," he spoke for the first time that I didn't have to eavesdrop to hear, though it took me a moment to realize he wasn't talking to me, though his eyes were still trained on me. "I can see that's impossible. I thank you for your help." And with that, he was gone.

I released the breath I didn't know I was holding and stepped away from the wall to hand in the slip. The receptionist asked how my day went, but all I could do was nod, confusing her, then leave myself.

As I got to my truck, I realized I was nearly the last car there, a fact I was grateful for. I got in and merely leaned back, staring out the window shield for a bit, before starting the engine and driving home.


	3. Chapter 2

**AN: Holy, sorry, this story has completely slipped my mind, but it has been gradually brought back into focus by random people reviewing it! Thank you so much, everyone, and I hope this was worth the wait. The first chapter was more or less a test, to see if anyone even liked the idea. Good thing a few do! I adore every one of you, and I hope you adore this chapter. Introducing one broody vampire, and a wee bit of smut as an apology.**

**Disclaimer: Nope, not mine.**

* * *

**Chapter Two**

A sickly sweet scent filled his nostrils as he left the classroom. Edward could smell nothing else, the sweetness overpowering all other odours in the air. '_What __**is**__ that?_' he thought, groaning as it filtered through him, causing his hunter instincts to flare. He hadn't drank human blood in so long, he had thought he was nearly immune to it's scent. Clearly he had been wrong. The smell filled his entire being, letting him think of nothing else but sinking his fangs into the neck of whomever it was coming from.

Eyes rolling back in his skull slightly, Edward sank onto a wall, attempting to breath through his mouth. Whoever was giving off the scent must have been new; there was no way Edward hadn't noticed this before. People meandered past, glancing at him strangely out of the corner of their eyes, probably wondering what was wrong with the eternal ice-boy that was Edward Cullen. He had never shown this much emotion on his face in school before, and that alone was sure to turn a few heads. '_Don't think about the smell, Edward_,' he commanded himself, clenching and unclenching his hands, his perfectly manicured nails leaving little half moon marks on his palms. '_If you don't think about it, it won't be so bad,_'.

"Edward, are you okay?" a worried voice penetrated his focus, bringing the smell back full force. Edward breathed out slowly, opening his eyes to see a short girl with a dark pixie cut. Alice.

"Fine, " he lied smoothly, avoiding breathing through his nose. Flashing his adopted sister a small smile, he ruffled her hair. "Shall we head to class?"

The small vampire frowned at him, not quite believing, but nodded, relenting for the time being. He knew she would drill him about it later, even without having to read her mind, but for now, at least, he was safe. Alice pranced away, leading the way to their next class, and leaving Edward to trail after her. The halls were empty, he noticed as they went. '_I must have missed the bell_,' he mused, '_So that's why Ali's here,_'. Of course his sister got worried when he wasn't in class. He shook his head at her concern, smirking lightly. She always got her panties in a knot over nothing. Her premonitions, faulty as they sometimes were, were likely the cause of her overbearing worry.

They slipped into the classroom almost unnoticed once Alice batted her eyes and flashed a smile at the teacher. Edward rolled his eyes. Humans were so easy to manipulate. Settling into their seats next to one another, Edward's mind returned once again to the sweet smelling person, trying to make up an image of what they looked like. He guessed it was a girl, based on the almost candy-like aroma of their blood. What kind of guy would have blood that smelled like that, especially in Forks of all places? He pictured her short, curvy, with blonde hair, who wore skimpy clothes. Her name would be something sugary and sweet and ending with a 'ie', he figured. Kimmie or Jennie or the like.

He already hated her.

As the class wore on, he imagined meeting Kimmie-with-an-ie. Because that's how she would introduce herself. Always annoyingly insistent that her name be specifically correct. God, he hated people like that. Edward hoped he could just meet this girl and get her to leave quickly, or he would have to. Even away from her scent trail in the hallway, the smell still remained in his nostrils, reminding him of it's presence every time he forgot to breath through his mouth. He didn't know how much more of this he could take.

Lunch arrived while Edward was lost in thought, Alice's hand on his shoulder jerking him back to reality.

"Coming, spacey?" Alice teased, ruffling his hair. Edward groaned, flattening it to the best of his ability before following his hyperactive sister to the cafeteria. As he entered, the regular scent of many different blood types was drowned by the sweetness once more. '_She's definitely here_,' he noted, casting his eyes over the herd to spot someone new. Growling lowly as his search yielded no fruit, Edward followed Alice to their usual table, sulking.

"What's with him?" Emmett asked, chuckling at the sour look Edward sent him.

"Piss off," he replied, then continued his search.

"I'm not sure," Alice started contemplatively, "He wasn't in class so I went to look for him, and found him leaning on a wall, completely zoned out,"

"Well, we haven't eaten in a while now," Rosalie pointed out, twirling a lock of golden hair around a finger. "Maybe he's just hungry?"

"But he's never been _this_ bad before..." Alice frowned.

"I can hear you, you know," Edward commented tersely, taking time out of his search to glare at each of his siblings in turn.

"That's half the fun of gossip, Eddy," Emmett teased, winking at him. Huffing, Edward turned away. He was about to give up when an unfamiliar face caught his eye. Well, he wasn't exactly how he had imagined him. At least he had gotten the blonde part right.

"I'm going to go to class early," Alice piped up suddenly, startling Edward out of his inspection of the source of the sweet-scent. "Gotta hand in a report I missed. See you guys later!" With that, she kissed the silent Jasper on the cheek and skipped away, emptying her untouched food into the garbage. Frowning after her for pulling him away from his investigation, Edward's eyes found the blonde boy once more.

Almost as if he felt him staring, the boy's eyes flicked towards him and locked with his momentarily, showing purple-tinted eyes which widened the longer he stared. Swallowing almost imperceptibly, Edward tried to look bored, averting his eyes from the boy. He was trying to get him to leave, not get in his pants. Though the boy was rather easy on the eyes...

Shaking his head to clear it of that thought, Edward tried to focus on anything but the intoxicating smell in the air. Moments later, however, a loud screeching of a chair followed by a whiny cry cut through the air. Flicking his gaze back to the blonde, Edward was surprised to see him holding another boy by his shirt, speaking sharply to him. There was too much noise in the room for him to hear the boy's words, so Edward directed his focus on reading the blonde's mind. Only silence greeted him, however, causing him to frown deeply. '_What the..._' he wondered, directing his attention to the boy being held. Frantic thoughts overwhelmed him:

_'Fucking fag, let go of me!'_

_ 'Filthy queers are crazy,'_

_ 'What if I catch it from him touching me?'_

_ 'Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, don't hit me, please!'_

The comments washed over him, filling him with rage. It didn't matter whether the blonde was gay or not, Edward wanted to rip the bigot he was holding in two. The blonde finished speaking, flashing the other boy a false smile, then dropped him and left. Edward stood up with the intention of following him, then remembered himself. If he got any closer to the blonde boy, he wouldn't be able to control his hunger. Even if he didn't want to, with the state he was in, he would drink every last drop of his sweet blood. Shivering at the images that the thought brought up in his mind, Edward sat down again, ignoring the questioning stares from his family, and instead just saying, "Can we eat soon?". Rosalie's idea seemed the easiest to pull off right now, considering the fact that he really _was _hungry. Emmett laughed again. Edward sulked.

* * *

Having decided to get a head start to classes, in order to avoid meeting up with the blonde morsel in the halls, Edward now sat slouched in his Biology class, staring out of the window. It was an overcast day, like most days in Forks were, and drizzling slightly. '_Beautiful day_,' the vampire mused, lips quirking slightly. If there was one thing he missed about being human, it was being able to go out on sunny days. He missed feeling the warm rays on his skin, pale as it was nowadays. Just as he had slipped into a fantasy of being in the sunlight, the door of the class opened, as it had been for the last five minutes, and closed once more. This time, however, was different. Almost immediately, Edward's senses were flushed with the sweet-scent of the blonde. '_Fuck me..._' he groaned internally. Without even looking around, he knew the only available space in the class was beside him. Tensing himself as the boy sat tentatively next to him, Edward discreetly shifted as far away as he could, seeking the assistance of distance. His eyes tracked the movement of the blonde, the nervous way he fidgeted on his hard stool, the adorably puzzled look on his face as he tried to smell the air. Despite Edward's inability to read his mind, the blonde was incredibly easy to read. '_Like an open book_,' he mused, lips twitching again. Then the scent really hit him as a breeze came through the door, blowing the blonde's sweetness, as well as an undercurrent of manliness, full into his face. Groaning internally as the sensation went straight to his throat, making it burn, and his lap, making it harden, Edward glared at the boy. How could his smell alone do this to him?

Edward soon regretted glaring at the blonde as their eyes met, leaving the blonde boy looking hurt and confused. '_Fuck, now he's upset_,' the vampire cursed. Then he realized what he was thinking. Why did he care? Wasn't he trying to get rid of this boy? Why did it matter whether he hurt his feelings or not?

It didn't matter. It _shouldn't_, at least. Bringing a hand up to cover his mouth and nose, Edward leaned his elbow on the table, attempting to mask his protection in the appearance of nonchalance. Not that it mattered. His entire body was tense, no where near nonchalant. Trying to distract himself, Edward took to reading the thoughts of other students, since he couldn't seem to with the blonde. Casting his power around the classroom for something interesting, he focused on one Jessica Stanley. Her thoughts all seemed to be focused around a new boy, Alexander.

'_So that's his name,_' Edward connected, glancing quickly back to the blonde. It suited him, he decided. Sending his reach back to Jessica, he tried to relax and listen.

'_Alright, Jess, you've got this. The only real competition you have is suck-up Angela, and puh-**lease**, who would choose her over you? She's so dowdy! Ask him right after class. Hopefully Creepy Cullen is gone by then. Ugh. He's so **broody**, but I guess that's what makes him so sexy. Totally unattainable, though. Jerk. God, Alexander is so **hot**. And probably a good kisser. Look at those lips! Oh, and he's pouting! That's so adorable! I just want to bite those lips. Mm, I wonder what his co-_'

Edward quickly pulled out of the girl's mind. Sometimes he got more than he wanted with high school kids. After scanning a few more boring minds, the bell finally rang. The vampire leaped to his feet and was gone before anyone else could move. As he exited the classroom, he could hear Jessica starting to chat up Alexander. Edward glowered at no one, resisting the urge to growl, then stalked off to his next class, praying to god it wasn't with the blonde.

The rest of the day went without incident, and Edward raced to the office to see about switching his Biology class. He wasn't sure if he could survive another day with Alexander beside him for an entire hour, so close he could easily reach out and pull the blonde to his chest, pressing his body fully against the shorter boy, displaying his hard on while sucking the boy's blood. The thought alone sent another pang to Edward's crotch, and he bit his lip, willing his arousal to go away before the receptionist noticed. The woman smiled pleasantly, albeit somewhat creepily, as she leaned towards him.

"How can I help you today, sweetheart?" she asked, pressing her breasts together slightly. Edward ignored that bit and smiled as nicely as he could.

"Hi, I was wondering if I could switch what period my Biology class was in?" His words came out smoothly as he leaned his forearms on the counter, eyes boring into the woman's. Her breathing became thin.

"I can check," she replied, rolling away in her chair to her computer. "It's Edward Cullen, right?" she asked for confirmation.

"That's right," he affirmed, nodding. She keyed in his name and clicked the mouse a few times.

"I'm sorry, it doesn't look like I can make that switch for you," She sounded apologetic, but Edward refused to take no for an answer. He needed this switch.

"Are you _certain_ you can't do anything for me?" he asked, intensifying his stare. The receptionist stuttered, looking lost. A sudden wind ripped the door open, sending a gust of sweet-scent into his nose, and leaving hands on his back. Edward tensed, knowing who it was immediately. Whipping around in time to see Alexander backing away, looking frightened, Edward didn't have time to restrain his glare. It wasn't enough that he had to switch because of this boy, and now he was being stopped by him.

"Never mind then," he spoke in clipped tones, still staring a hole through the blonde, "I can see that's impossible. I thank you for your help." In a huff, Edward stalked out of the office and towards his car, breathing in the fresh air gratefully. As he slipped into the driver's seat to wait for his siblings, he attempted clearing his mind, soothing his senses and erection. He would have to talk to Carlisle about this as soon as he was home.

* * *

Due to Emmett's teasing on the drive home, Edward was in no mood to talk about Alexander to anyone. In a rage, he stalked off to his room, slamming the door shut behind him and leaning on it. His mind whirled, cursing Emmett for bringing up the blonde boy again, cursing the blonde boy for being so _fucking_ desirable, cursing his own body for being so treacherous. As his mind conjured up the image of Alexander, memories of his scent returned as well. Edward groaned, sinking to the floor. His manhood strained against his jeans as he pictured himself pinning the blonde down and devouring him in multiple ways.

'_Bad thought, Edward, bad thought. Stop thinking of that_,' he chastised himself, even as his nimble fingers undid his pants and slipped inside, wrapping around his shaft. He hissed at the coolness of his own hand, eyes slitting in pleasure. As his hand began to pump, Edward's mind changed his hand to Alexander's, and the boy's nude body formed before him, staring lustily at him with those damned purple-tinted eyes.

"_Fuck_," Edward groaned, throwing his head back at the heightened pleasure that image brought. His breathing was started to become raspy and he quickened his pace, hand sliding with practised ease over his cock. The imagined-Alexander lowered his head, lips hovering directly over the vampire's member, breathing warm air onto it. Edward moaned at the idea and made the image continue. As the blonde snaked out his tongue to lap at the tip, Edward came, arching his back unconsciously.

As the bronze-haired boy came down from his orgasmic high, a thought stuck him: '_I'm royally fucked_.' Embarrassment flooded through him, making him quickly clean up his mess. People could have heard, easily, what he was doing. Emmett and Carlisle would know exactly what he had done, just from the sound. The girls may not, he reasoned, unless Emmett tells them. Edward buried his face in his hands, breathing deeply. He rarely ever masturbated anymore, and if he did, it was always away from his family. The enhanced hearing of vampires was not always the greatest thing.

Swallowing his embarrassment, Edward opened his door, looking both ways for people before making his way swiftly to Carlisle's study. He stood in front of the door uncertainly for a moment, not sure if he was ready to face his father figure or not. His indecision was cut short as the door opened, revealing the tall, scholarly blonde.

"Well?" Dr. Cullen asked, crossing his arms and tilting his head at the younger vampire. Edward started.

"Well, what?" he asked, alarmed at the tone of his voice. He knew about what he had just done. He definitely knew.

"Are you planning on coming in, or was your goal just to stand in my doorway all night?"

Edward blinked. "Oh," he murmured, feeling idiotic, "Right, yeah," He stumbled through the opening and sat down heavily in one of the chairs that scattered Carlisle's office. The blonde man sat down behind his desk, leaning onto his forearms and making a triangle out of his fingers. The silence stretched on, Carlisle staring at Edward, Edward staring at his lap.

"What's the matter, Edward?" Dr. Cullen asked eventually, attempting to move the conversation forward. Edward looked up from his lap, his face pained.

"There's this boy..." he started, unsure how to describe his situation. Carlisle raised a delicate blonde brow, prompting the younger vampire to elaborate. "He's...well, he's gorgeous. But that...that's not the problem. Well, not the _main_ problem..."

"Go on, son. What is so enthralling about this boy?"

"His..._blood._" He all but whispered the word, not meeting Carlisle's eye. "It smells so, _incredibly_ good to me. I don't think the others...they can't smell it like I can," The elder vampire's eyes were serious as he stared Edward down.

"What else? There's something else," he guessed. Edward nodded, eyes still on his feet.

"I can't read his mind," The complete shock of this idea hadn't hit him until the words left his mouth. He dared a glance at Carlisle, and saw that his mouth had become a thin line, his brows furrowed in thought.

"I see," he said, lost in thought, "This_ is_ a problem," The silence stretched on between them, every second making Edward feel more and more uncomfortable. After another minute of this, he couldn't take any more.

"What should I do?" he urged, eyes frantic, "I can't get him out of my head, Carlisle. I've tried everything I could at school to get out of being in the same class with him. I barely made it through today with him just a few feet away for an entire hour," His face was pained, remembering how he longed to sink his teeth into the boy and drain him right then and there. The older vampire hummed, standing and crossing the room to look out the window.

"For a start, I suggest you go hunting. You haven't eaten in weeks," he said carefully, "When you return, we can decided on the best course of action," Edward nodded. That seemed reasonable: figure it out once he had a clear head.

"Alright," he replied, getting to his feet, "I'll go now,"

"Edward, there's no rush," Carlisle frowned, turning to study his son.

"No sense waiting," Edward said with a quirk of his lips. His father sighed, but nodded.

"Very well," the doctor relented, "I'll see you in a few days, son," Carlisle crossed the room and placed one hand on the younger man's shoulder, squeezing it once before releasing him. Without another word, Edward left, kicking off his shoes at the door. It wasn't like he needed anything but his teeth and his speed to bring down his prey.

Once outside, he breathed in the humid air, attempting to pick up a scent to follow. The slight rain that had picked up since his arrival home had all but destroyed any trail he may have found. Snorting at his luck, he picked a direction and dashed off, enjoying the feel of muddy undergrowth beneath his bare feet. Five minutes of hard running later, he slowed, surveying his surroundings.

A bright, grassy meadow stretched out before him. Flowers in a rainbow of colours poked out of the tall, springy grass. Edward fell to his knees, casting his hands over the green shoots and marvelling at their softness. He looked up to the sky, and was surprised to see it clear. Had it not been raining just minutes ago? The vampire frowned, puzzled by this place. It was beautiful, perfect. He sighed lightly, not wanting to leave the spellbinding place, but knowing he must. He still needed to hunt, and it needed to be farther away than this. He didn't want people getting suspicious.

Standing slowly and prying his gaze unwillingly away from the gorgeous meadow, Edward set off again, not looking back. As he entered the forest once more, darkness surrounded him, encompassing him in it's embrace. '_Hello, old friend_,' he greeted mentally, smiling at nothing. The murky blackness would help him once he found his prey. An hour later, he slowed his pace, figuring he was far enough away from Forks to not have to worry about people finding the bodies of his prey. The night had grown, leaving everything silhouetted against the scarce light of the moon. Edward calmed his breathing, inhaling slowly and carefully, attempting to pick out prey-scent. Breath after breath yielded nothing until, there! He had something. A doe; matured. Locking onto the scent, Edward dropped into a stalking crouch, creeping silently through the forest towards the deer. Several times he had to change directions, as the trail was not a straight line. Then he saw her: in the moon's light, she looked almost ethereal, if a deer could look that way. The silver light seemed to shimmer off of the doe's flank as she lapped at the river beside her, and Edward hesitated, almost unwilling to attack. He soon shook his head resolutely. He had to do this. Who knew how long it'd be until he could pick up another trail?

Stalking cautiously forward, Edward kept his eyes trained on the deer. Her tail flicked nervously and raised her head, causing the vampire to halt his progression. She gazed around momentarily before lowering her head once more, continuing drinking. Edward let out the breath he was holding and continued his trek. Now merely meters away from his prey, he adjusted his stance before leaping towards the unsuspecting deer. The doe spooked and tried to flee, but Edward slammed into her side, bowling the deer over. Not wasting any time, the vampire straddled the flailing deer and gripped her head in both of his hands.

"Forgive me," he whispered to the doe before twisting her head to the side, ceasing her struggling. He stroked the now rigid deer's neck with his hand before lowering his head to it and sinking his teeth in. Still-warm blood bubbled up as a result, and Edward repressed a moan as he greedily lapped it up like a starved man. The blood slid down his throat easily, soothing the burning that had begun earlier that day due to one blonde morsel. The pain did not fully sedate, not that Edward had expected it to, but it was better than it had been. A few more meals would be necessary before he felt fine once more. Nodding resolutely at his own thought, he raced off into the night.

* * *

Edward had lost count of the days he had been gone, every fibre of his being having been focused on the hunt. He had been lucky enough to track two more deer and a mountain lion. His mouth still watered thinking about the taste of the mountain lion's blood. If he was allowed to pick a favourite meal, it would be mountain lion. He briefly wondered if regular lions would taste the same as mountain lions, then banished the thought. He needed to get his mind back, as he was approaching Forks, and didn't want any unfortunate incidents that would lead to them having to move. Not after he had gone to all this work just to be near Alexander. As his humanity returned to him, his focus was solely on the blonde boy once more, but not in the same needy way that it had been. His attention was more curious now that he could think around the throbbing want that was associated with the boy.

The vampire slipped through his front door and was immediately tackled by Alice.

"Oh, you idiot!" she admonished, punching his chest as he wrapped his arms around his sister, "You left without a word! None of us knew where you'd gone, and Carlisle wouldn't say anything but 'he needs this'," Her voice deepened, mocking the eldest vampire's smooth tenor. Edward couldn't help but smirk at her, then released her small form. As he looked around the entry hall of their large home, he was surprised to see the rest of his family present. The bronze haired boy blinked in shock. He hadn't expected everyone to get this worked up about his leaving. Esme, Carlisle's mate and the mother figure of the family, was next to embrace him.

"We were so worried, Edward," she murmured, stepping back and stroking his face tenderly.

"I'm sorry, Esme," he replied, voice just as soft. He placed his hand over hers momentarily, then looked towards Carlisle. '_Can I talk to you?_' he projected into the doctor's mind. Carlisle nodded almost imperceptibly and walked up to his study with a quick word of excuse. Edward sent a quick smile to Esme before following the doctor up the stairs. He closed the door to Carlisle's study behind him, and turned to see the elder vampire lounging, looking at him interestedly.

"Well?" Carlisle asked.

"What day is it?" Edward interrupted, furrowing his brow.

"Sunday, son," Dr. Cullen replied, the ghost of a smile on his lips.

"Shit.."

"I take it you are feeling better now, though?" Edward nodded.

"I think I'm all right to go to school tomorrow," he ventured. Carlisle looked at him sharply.

"Are you sure?" he asked, a warning in his voice. Edward took a deep breath and nodded once more. Carlisle sighed, looking weary. "Then I guess I cannot stop you,"

"Thank you, Carlisle," the younger vampire replied gratefully, turning to leave.

"Oh, but Edward," the doctor called after him, causing Edward to pause, his hand on the knob, "Be careful around that boy," Without answering, Edward left.

As he lay in his bed that night, Edward thought of the blonde, of what he would say to him. He hadn't exactly put off a likeable front that first day, and he hoped he hadn't completely ruined any chance he had of getting to know the boy. He had never had this urge, this longing to know someone before; not since before his death. He very much didn't want to screw this up.

Edward went through his morning classes in a daze, noticing Alexander's scent, but not being overpowered by it. He was able to enjoy it now, and planned to. He was actually looking forward to Biology, the first time he had ever looked forward to any class. Lunch finally arrived, and Edward was able to come out of space enough to notice it had started snowing. He wondered vaguely when that had begun. As he crossed the courtyard, not caring about the cold enough to take the long route inside, he felt something wet hit the back of his head with a squelching noise. Was that-

"Heads up Eddy!" Emmett yelled at him though cupped hands, laughing boisterously. Jasper stood a few feet behind the largest Cullen, an armful of snow. Edward smirked.

"You too!" he replied, laughing as Jasper took that moment to leap and slam all the snow down on Emmett.

"Ugh," the brawny boy complained, whipping around to glare halfheartedly at Jasper. "You little-" A snowball smacked him in the back, cutting off his response and Edward looked over at Rosalie, who was pointedly avoiding people's gazes and motioned towards Edward when Emmett's eyes found her. '_Oh shit_,' Edward managed to think before getting pelted with snow.

Ten minutes later, they trooped into the cafeteria, the boys all soaking wet, the girls spotless. A wide grin was stretched out over Edward's face, as well as the faces of his brothers, as they laughed and mocked one another. It had been a long time since he had been able to have fun, actual fun, with his siblings. His eyes found Alexander without his meaning to, and saw him sitting with an Asian boy. As if he could feel him watching, the blonde looked up and met his eye. Edward was saddened to see the mistrust and worry in his glance, and furrowed his eyebrows in thought. Alexander quickly looked down, avoiding his gaze. The vampire continued staring for a few more moments before dragging his attention back to his family.

Edward was uncharacteristically slow getting to Biology, considering how much he had been looking forward to it. The emotions on the blonde's face at lunch had made him worry if it was too late to fix this. As he stood outside the door of the class, he took a deep breath, knowing instantly that Alexander was already seated inside. Gathering his courage, he walked in silently and took his seat beside the blonde, who was entirely focused on doodling. Edward took a moment to take in the look of concentration on the boy's face, thinking of how cute it was, before speaking.

"Hello,"


	4. Chapter 3

**AN:/ LONGEST CHAPTER YET, WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. Anyway, thank you for all of your wonderful reviews and all of the alerts and favourites I got! Wow! I'm really glad people are liking this. This chapter is back to Alex POV. In this episode, Alex gives no shits about bullies and flirts with emo vampires. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Errybody belongs to Stephanie Meyer but my widdle Xander. **

* * *

**Chapter Three**

The next day proved to be better, as well as worse.

It was better because it had yet to rain that day. It was better because I somewhat knew what to expect: Mike being an asshole, Eric and me hanging out both in and out of classes. He was proving to be more interesting than I originally thought. Though Eric was still rather quiet and shy, he understood what it was like to be different (Eric had two mothers: something the people of Forks didn't agree with, which made them ostracize him).

It was worse because I was bloody tired; the wind and rain kept me wide awake at night (yet another reason to hate it). It was worse because my teachers tried to include me in things that I desperately did not want to participate in. Class discussions, for example. I had to participate in gym as well, only giving a half-assed effort and making the 'Coach' give me laps. It was worse because of this small-minded school had found out I was gay.

And to top it all off, Edward Cullen wasn't there. I still wasn't sure what category to put that in.

All last night and through the morning, I was dreading lunch and Biology. I didn't want to see his hatred, feel his angry glares gouging holes through my head. My brain was divided. Part of me wanted to go up to him, demand he tell me what his problem was. The other part was content not knowing. That was the half I agreed with. I was probably better off not knowing how or why he harboured this deep-set hatred after the first time seeing me. Maybe he was homophobic, like Mike, and overheard our conversation. As much as I doubted that, it was the only idea I'd come up with that seemed the least bit plausible.

As Eric and I entered the cafeteria, I did a quick scan of the large (for Forks) room, and sighed in relief when I caught no sign of the angsty boy from yesterday. His beautiful family was here, something I had no problem with, but Edward was not. I mentally cheered as Eric led me over to an unoccupied table to the side of the room. _'Scratch not being sure,'_ I thought, smiling,_ 'and put this in the "better" side.' _

Lunch was thoroughly entertaining for me, as Eric told me stories of his moms. A few of them made me laugh like I hadn't in months and, despite the number of people staring at us due to my loud crows of laughter, I couldn't help but feel good. Hanging out with the other boy like this made me miss my friends from home. Or rather, from Arizona. It's not like I had much of a home there anymore. I soon forgot all about being worried for Bio, and felt completely carefree until we stepped into the classroom. I froze uncertainly for a moment, but continued on once I realized the Cullen twit was absent. Eric gave me a weird look, because of my pause, I figured, and I returned with a beaming, toothy grin. Eric rolled his eyes at me playfully and went to his seat. I nearly skipped over to mine, this time claiming the window seat so I could look outside. I figured that as long as I sat with my 'partner' it didn't matter which seat I took.

About halfway through the period, I felt something hit the back of my head. I turned, frowning and touching my head where it had been hit to check for spitballs or the like, and saw a ball of paper on the ground beside me. I bent over and picked it up quickly, only uncrumpling it when the teacher's back was turned. On it was a crude drawing of me sucking off another guy. Above it read the oh-so-elegant words "Fly Home Fairy". I raised an eyebrow. Was this supposed to make me upset? Did they want me to cry? I considered the picture, deciding that whoever had drawn it was so far in the closet he was in Narnia. I didn't understand how the picture went with the words, but I shrugged, uncaring, and folded up the page before sticking it in my pocket. It's not like I had never dealt with bullies before.

Eric caught up to me in the hallway after class, and asked on the note.

"Oh, it was nothing, really," I told him uncaringly, "Just someone's way of welcoming me to the community." I beamed at him before walking away. "See you, Ricky!" I called over my shoulder, noticing how the boy flushed at the nickname.

"Don't call me that!" he cried, embarrassed. I just blew him a kiss and headed to gym. I was in such a good mood right now, not even haters and gym class could ruin it.

As I struggled to turn on my new truck after school, I cranked my radio. Well, technically, it wasn't the radio. It was my iPod plugged into my stereo, if you could even call it that. I turned up the current dance song that was playing, more to block out the sound of my vehicle's engine than anything else, and drove carefully into the stream of traffic lined up to exit the crowded lot. My eyes were drawn unconsciously to a certain pale family, and I stared jealously at the Volvo they were all entering. I would never be able to afford a car like that, not unless I became a rock star. I eyed up the last of them to enter the car, one Emmett Cullen, and seethed. What did their parents do to be able to buy all these things, and for four kids, no less. Since I was old enough to get a job, I had basically been providing for myself. Why did these people get the world handed to them on a platter?

I continued to steam until a horn brought me back to the present. I jumped, realizing that there was no one left in front of me, and quickly exited the parking lot. Charlie had left a note this morning, explaining that there was practically no food left at home, and that I would need to pick some groceries up on the way home. I remembered from my childhood that my father was never a good cook, and I figured I would have to pick up the slack.

I drove to the store Charlie had told me of, a shabby looking Thriftway, and bought whatever I felt we needed for the next week or so. Charlie had left me money (thank god) so I tried to stay below the amount he had given me, seeing as I had no money of my own to pay with. I loaded the bags into the passenger seat of my truck, since I didn't trust it not to rain for five minutes, and headed home. When unpacking the groceries, I noticed that my father really didn't have much food in the house. Maybe a half a box of Corn Flakes and a few molding strawberries in a plastic container, which I wrinkled my nose at and hurriedly threw in the trash.

Shaking my head in bafflement of how Charlie had survived this long on his own, I started to work at dinner. After wrapping some potatoes in foil to bake in the oven, and sticking a large steak in a plastic bag with some marinade, I headed upstairs to dump my things in my room. As I set down my backpack, I glanced at the old computer in the corner and frowned. '_Wonder if it works?'_ I thought, going over to the beast and pressing the 'On' button. After a few laggy seconds, the screen lit up, though I could barely read it for all the dust on it. I went to the bathroom to grab some toilet paper and cleaned off the screen with it before throwing it in the trash. By the time I was done, the computer was almost ready. I snorted. This machine worked wonders.

After a few more agonizing minutes dealing with the dial-up internet, I was able to check my e-mails. I had three, and noticed they were all from Devon. I smiled. At least _someone_ still cared about me. I opened the first one:

_"Alex,_

_ Write me AS SOON AS YOU GET THIS! Was the flight terrible? What's it like living in the pronged cutlery capital of America? I miss you already. I'm almost finished packing for Florida (remember me and my parents were going?), but I can't find my pink shirt with the words on it. Do you know where it is? Cause I haven't seen it in forever! I blame you for always wanting me out of my clothes. Everyone else says hi. I miss you so much!_

_ -Devon"_

I chuckled at what he'd written. We had decided to break up before I left, but neither of us felt bad about it. We still loved each other.

I looked to the next message, noticing it was sent eight hours after the first:

_"Alex,_

_ Why haven't you e-mailed me yet, bitch? I'm not a patient person. I know it doesn't take this long to fly to Washington._

_ -Devon"_

This one made me actually snort, and I was glad no one was around to hear it. I quickly moved on to the third:

_"Alexander, if I don't hear from you by 5:30, I'm coming down there. I don't even care. Don't ignore me. I know you're reading this. I swear, if you don't mail me back by then, I will get an army of mobsters to come kidnap you._

_ -Devon"_

I shook my head, smiling. If there was anything I missed from Arizona, it was Devon. I didn't even miss the sex, although the sex was great, as much as I just missed being with him. I sighed and began to write a reply:

_"Devon,_

_ Don't send mobsters after me and PLEASE don't come here yourself. I'm writing now, so don't be a bitch and wait for a few minutes._

_ -Alex"_

After sending that, I started writing my actual reply:

_"Devon,_

_ It's fine here. It's been raining non-stop since I got here, and it sucks. I miss you too, love. The flight was, in fact, terrible. I threw up. I'm sure it was just as terrible for the stewardess watching me though...I met this guy who I've been hanging out with a lot. His name is Eric, and he has two moms, and they sound really cool. I can't wait till I meet them._

_ The last time I saw that shirt was on the floor in my room. And so what if I wanted to see you naked someti—most of the ti—all the time. It's probably still there. I bet you could sneak in after school one day and get it? You know my mom doesn't get home till late (usually) and I doubt she's even been in my room since...well, you know._

_ Charlie bought me a truck. Yeah, that's right. I, Alexander Chase Swan, have a vehicle. Be afraid. It's really big and red. (By the way, I can think of something else that is big and red from thinking about you naked...*wink*)_

_ I won't be able to check my e-mail every five minutes because, as you may have heard, some of us have lives. Also, this computer I'm using is from the dinosaur ages, I swear._

_ I gotta go now. I love you! Bye!_

_ -Alex"_

After I signed out of my e-mail account, I went and flopped face down on my pillow, groaning. Who was I kidding? I hated it here so far. The weather sucked, the people sucked (minus Eric), and school here even sucked more than at home. I rolled over, smacking a hand to my forehead. I had to stop thinking of Arizona as home. _This_ was my home now, whether I wanted it to be or not, since there was no way I was going back to live with my mother. I knew Devon's door was always open, but with his three siblings, his family had a hard enough time looking after them as it was, without another teenager thrown into the mix.

In an effort to make myself stop thinking, I grabbed my iPod and headphones and cranked the volume as high as I could. The song pouring into my ear right now was not nearly the dance tunes I had listened to on the way home, but was instead a loud, screamy thrash-fest. As one song turned to two, and then to five, I zoned out entirely, caught in the river of music. I was so out of it, I didn't hear Charlie calling for me until he appeared in my doorway. I jolted up at the sudden change of scenery, then my eyes widened. If Charlie was home now, then I needed to take the potatoes out. I ripped out the earbuds, and pushed past my father, who gave me a confused look, before rushing down to the kitchen and pulling the foil wrapped potatoes from the oven, and replacing them with the steaks that I had placed on a tray. I didn't like steak normally when it wasn't done on the barbeque, but with the weather, I figured I had no choice.

"Hold your horses, kid," Charlie reprimanded me half-heartedly, eyes widening as he took in a deep breath of the kitchen air. "Is that...?"  
"Steak and potatoes? Yes," I replied, searching for the cupboard that held plates. I heard my father grunt behind me.

"Good. I've been craving just that for a while," he informed me. I rolled my eyes as I set the table.

"Why don't you go watch some TV?" I asked, "I'll still be a few minutes here," Charlie nodded once before lumbering off to the living room. Once he was gone, I pulled out the head of lettuce I had bought earlier on and proceeded to make a salad to lighten up the heavy dinner, though I guessed that I'd be the only one eating said leafy greenery. Once the steaks were cooked, I called Charlie back in, serving his plate before mine (just one of the many things my dear mother had ingrained into me).

We ate silently for a while, me because I didn't usually talk while I was eating, and him because he didn't talk much ever. After a few minutes, Charlie set his fork down and looked at me. I swallowed carefully, wondering what he wanted.

"So, how's school goin'? Made any friends?" was the question that finally came from him. I breathed out a breath I didn't know I'd been holding. I was glad he hadn't brought up why I was sent here, even though I assumed he already knew. I just really didn't want to have to explain to someone so soon.

"It's okay...I met a guy, Eric, who I've been hanging out with. He seems nice," I avoided mentioning my encounter with Mike, seeing it unnecessary to bring up since he hadn't specifically asking if I had made any _enemies_.

"Mmm, Eric Yorkie?" I shrugged, not actually knowing his last name and feeling slightly bad about it. "Good kid. Steph and Gabbie sure did a good job raising him with no father," I frowned. I had a father for part of growing up, and Phil for the rest of it, and I was more screwed up than my friend who never had one. _'Dads are overrated,_' I decided. Then a random thought hit me.

"Hey dad," I started slowly, "Do you know the Cullen family?" If anyone knew about them it would be the chief of police, I figured.

"Dr. Cullen's family? Sure. Dr. Cullen's a _great_ man," I raised an eyebrow at the look in his eye when he said that, but didn't comment.

"Yeah, but they...his kids...are a little different, " That was the understatement of the year, "They don't seem to fit in very well at school," I only said that because of what I had heard from the brief conversation I'd had with Mike and the fact that they were always with just each other. Charlie brought me out of my pondering by looking angry. Pissed, in fact.

"People in this town," he all but growled, "Dr. Cullen is a brilliant surgeon who could probably work anywhere he wanted to, but instead decides to grace this town with his talent," I was surprised at how passionately Charlie spoke of this. "We're _lucky_ to have him, y'hear? It's his wife who keeps him here, you know, since she wanted to live in a small town. He's an asset to the community, and all of those kids of his are very polite and well behaved. I'll admit, I was worried when they moved in here with all those adopted teenagers, but I haven't had a bit of trouble from any of them: more than I can say of the kids of _some_ in this town. And they're so committed to being a family, goin' out on all those camping trips they go on, but just cause they're new here, everyone's gotta talk,"

As Charlie finished speaking, my eyes were wide. That was more than he'd said to me in years, and I was curious what was so great about these people to make him defend them so. I certainly hadn't been impressed so far. But in an effort to keep my dad on _my_ side, I decided to go for the complementary route.

"From what I've seen, they seem nice," '_Yeah, that's__** one **__word for him,'_ "They just keep to themselves. Weird, considering how attractive they are. They could probably have the whole town worshipping them if they wanted," So maybe I was laying it on a bit too thick. But from the way Charlie was nodding, maybe not.

"You should see the doctor," he told me, his eyes glazing over slightly, making me raise an eyebrow, "It's a good thing for his wife, though, that he's completely faithful to her. Lotta nurses at the hospital have their eye on him. I'm surprised anythin' gets done 'round there," I chuckled lightly, thinking that the nurses weren't the only ones who had their eye on this Doctor Cullen.

The rest of the meal that followed was almost complete silence. Once he was done, Charlie put his plate in the sink and went back to the living room to continue watching whatever program was on. I followed his example by placing my plate in the sink as well and slowly ascended the stairs to where my homework lay. After looking at it for about ten minutes and not doing a single thing, I put it away. It wasn't as though I was going to be a mathematician when I grew up, so why bother doing the homework? I was sure I'd read somewhere that homework didn't even help you in class, so all the more reason not to do it.

I slept peacefully that night, something I was beginning to take as a rare blessing. The rest of the week passed without mentionable events, apart from the fact that one Edward Cullen never came back to class. I couldn't say I wasn't pleased by this fact, but it did pique my curiosity. I couldn't help but wonder if it was because of me. '_Don't be stupid Alex_,' I told myself harshly, squashing the thought. _'Why would he be gone so long just because of me?'_

The talk of the town that week at lunch was a trip to La Push Ocean Park that was two weeks away. I didn't really expect to be invited, but when I found out that good ol' Mikey was putting the whole thing together, I vowed to crash the party. What was a beach day (god knows how they were able to even call it that with this weather) without some pranks? Eric seemed dubious when I brought up the idea, but after a few minutes of coercing, he was in. What can I say? I'm a charmer.

As the weekend rolled in, I realized just how little there was to do in Forks. After cleaning, doing more homework than I thought was possible in one sitting, and sending off an email to Devon, I decided to hit the town. Or rather, the small strip that counted as main street. I stopped in at the library, thinking perhaps they would have something of interest, but left almost as soon as I had arrived. _'Pitiful,'_ I moaned as I left the near barren library, _'Absolutely pitiful!'_

Monday morning was chilly, making me bundle up with a scarf and mittens, but thankfully not raining. My morning classes breezed by, and before I knew it, lunch had arrived. My eyes spotted Eric's frazzled black hair, proof that he must have just had a test, and I quickened my pace to meet him. We exchanged smiles and opened the door leading outside (our short-cut to the caf). I suddenly realized why it had been so cold earlier.

"Is that snow?" I asked my friend, ignoring the baffled look he sent me. Fighting down a laugh, Eric replied,

"Yes?"

"Huh," I stuck out my tongue to catch a flake as I'd seen people do on television, and ended up getting one blown into my eye. "Ah, fuck," I cursed, blinking the cold speck away. Eric had stopped trying to restrain his laughter by this point.

"Have you honestly never seen snow before?" he asked between chortles. I scowled at him.

"Sure I have!" I told him indignantly, "...on tv," This only sent him into another bought of laughs. I smacked the back of his head halfheartedly and walked away.

"Alex, I'm sorry," the Asian boy apologized, not sounding all that sorry, jogging to catch up.

"Why is it even snowing now? Isn't it only September?" I grumbled, throwing my hands up in the air as I watched balls of slushy grossness flying to and fro. Eric shrugged.

"It's been known to happen," he said as ways of explaining. I huffed and dropped the subject as we re-entered the school. Then I stopped. "I think I'll get something warm today for lunch. Soup or something. What about you, Alex?" He paused, looking at my now frozen form. "Alex?"

"He's here," I whispered, sound barely escaping my lips. I noticed Eric's worried look and sent him a smile. "Soup sounds good for me too," I say quickly, attempting to cover my moment of weirdness. Eric only shook his head and went to grab us both a bowl. I made my way over to our designated table and sat, making sure to face the Cullens, but not to look at them directly. _'It's all about the peripherals, Alex,'_ I coached myself, watching Edward out of the corner of my eye. Eric arrived with our soup and we chatted about nothing for a few minutes. I then noticed that a certain pale boy was looking at me. Moving my eyes to his, I was surprised to see he didn't look hateful, as he had the week before. No, this time he merely looked curious, probing. I looked away, fighting to keep my face expressionless.

Eric swivelled to see what I had been looking at and made a humming noise.

"Edward Cullen is staring at you," he noted.

"Thanks, tips. I didn't realize," I retorted, rolling my eyes. As an afterthought, I add, "Does he look angry?"

Eric frowned. "No...should he be? Did you do something to piss him off?"

"I...don't think so. He just doesn't seem to like me," I laugh mockingly, "Seems to be a trend in this town,"

"I like you?" the Asian boy offered awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck. I snort, sending him a cheeky grin.

"I like you too, Eric-poo," I coo, trailing a finger down his cheek and along his jaw. Eric jerks back, making me laugh. "Oh, grow a pair, you sissy, or else you'll never be my type!" Grinning, I stand, bringing my empty bowl with me. "See you later, sweetheart!" I call winking. I notice Mike glaring a hole into my skull and blow him a kiss before slinking off to Biology, hoping I'm early enough to beat Mr. Mood-Change. I like my window seat quite a bit, thank you very much.

Mr. Banner, the slouched old Biology teacher, was skulking about the room, setting a microscope daintily on each station as if they were each children of his. I pitied him for the way students treated his babies. I opened my notebook to start doodling. I still had about five minutes to spare before class started. As the time passed, the room got louder and louder. I was nearly startled off of my stool when a soft voice spoke beside me.

"Hello,"

Flinging my arms over my 'artwork', I glanced cautiously up at him. His skin was flushed slightly, though was still paler than even I, and his hair was damp, tousled to perfection. His eyes were warmer than the week before, which I was glad for. The most dazzling smile graced his lips, making him sex-on-legs. _'Oh fuck,'_ I thought, swallowing, unable to escape his amber gaze.

"My name is Edward Cullen," he continued in his melodic tone, "I didn't have a chance to introduce myself last week. You must be Alex Swan?" His head tilted ever-so-slightly, making him look like a large, extremely attractive puppy dog. _'Oh __**fuck**__,'_ I repeated. This was not fair. I wracked my brain, looking for something to say other than, _"Please take me on this desk,"_.

"How do you know my name?" I settled for, chewing my bottom lip. The Adonis before me chuckled, a deep, rolling sound that went straight to my crotch. _'Let me die,'_ I pleaded, _'Let me die before I pop a stiffy in front of this guy,'_.

"You're new. Everyone in Forks knows your name," I frowned slightly, releasing my lip as his eyes went to it.

"No," I protest, "I mean, why'd you call me Alex?" It was Edward's turn to frown.

"Would you rather be called Alexander?" I made a face.

"Uh, no. Alex is great," I reassure him, "You're just the first one to call me it right off. People apparently have a thing for using full names here. I don't know why. Alexander is such a mouthful," I shook my head at the people of Forks before looking away mournfully. Edward made a humming noise of acknowledgement and took my cue to fall silent.

Mr. Banner began the lesson, reverently explaining the importance of being able to tell the phase of mitosis things were in. I smothered a yawn in my elbow. I had done this exact lab last year, but with a different cell. This was going to be a breeze. The slouched man concluded his lecture by stating he would be stopping us in twenty minutes. Plenty of time then.

"Do you wanna go first, or..?" I began, trailing off as I looked up at Edward's face. He sent me an adorable crooked smile before replying.

"After you, Mr. Swan,"

I dragged the microscope across the desk so it was in front of me, noticing the way Mr. Banner cringed as I did so, and adjusted it to the proper magnification. After a few moments of looking through the scope, I pulled back and said, "Prophase,"

"May I look?" Edward asked, catching my hand as I reached to remove the slide. My mind focused solely on his cold hand around mine. It felt as if he had been holding on to a bag of ice for the last ten minutes. A shiver ran through me, but not only because of the boy's cool digits. As he had touched me, I'd felt my heart pound rapidly, and my hand felt overheated regardless of the fact that it should have been freezing. I pulled away sharply, embarrassed at my body's reaction, and immediately felt bad for doing so as I saw the boy's face tighten. "Sorry," he murmured before pulling the microscope to the proper place and peering in. An instant later he drew away with a small nod of confirmation, and wrote 'Prophase' down on the sheet. With deft hands he swapped the slide to the next and checked it.

"Anaphase," Edward murmured, writing it down before consulting with me. As if I'd let that fly. I cleared my throat, making him look at me.

"May I?" I asked sweetly, batting my eyes at him in a girlish manner. The pale boy smirked and pushed the device towards me. I shot him a look before gazing into the microscope, swearing under my breath when I noticed he was right. A chuckle bubbled out of Edward, almost as if he hadn't been expecting it. I raised an eyebrow at him, and he hastily regained his composure, coughing to cover himself. _'Totally believable,'_ I thought, rolling my eyes and switching the glass once more.

We were done within the next few minutes, leaving us with nothing to do for the next ten. I sighed, resting my head in my hands and glanced at his oh-so-elegant handwriting on our sheet. How could anyone write that prettily? My own chicken scratch was painfully bland in comparison. I felt eyes on me and looked up into Edward's glorious golden orbs. I felt as if he was trying to read my mind, he was looking at me so hard. As I was returning his stare, a peculiar realization hit me.

"Are you wearing contacts?" I blurted, ruining the moment. The pale boy looked bewildered at my question.

"No?" he answered hesitantly. I frowned.

"Huh. Okay," I shrug, "Your eyes just looked darker last week," Edward stiffened infinitesimally.

"Must have been the light," he replied, finally looking away. I glanced down to his hands to see them clenched tightly in fists like they were last week. What did I do?

Mr. Banner took that moment to scuttle over to us to investigate why we weren't working. He eyed the filled sheet skeptically, then shot his beady stare to Edward.

"So, Mister Cullen, you didn't deem Alexander fit to use the microscope?" he accused.

"Alex," Edward correct before continuing, "And he identified over half of the subjects," Mr. Banner's watery eyes turned to me next, pinning me in place.

"Is that so," he muttered, scowling, "Well, then, it's a good thing you two are partners, isn't it?" With that quip in place, he skulked away to prey on other helpless partners. I stared after him for a few seconds, trying to figure out if I liked him or not, then shrugged and went back to complete my doodles from before class. All was quiet until Edward piped up again, this time with semi-awkward small talk.

"It's a shame about the snow," he commented, nodding to the rain speckled window that proved the snow was all but history by this point. I snorted.

"Not really. I wasn't really a fan,"

"You don't like the cold," he stated, back to staring holes in my head.

"Or the wet," I add, twirling my pencil in my fingers.

"You must hate it here," Edward noted.

"Gee, what ever would give you that impression?" I return sarcastically, knowing I shouldn't be venting at the boy, but not having the restraint to stop.

"Why did you come to live here then?" he asked, his brow furrowed. I looked at him, surprised. No one had really asked me _why_ I was here. They just kind of accepted that I was. I opened and closed my mouth a couple times before answering meekly,

"It's complicated,"

"I can keep up,"

_'Fucker,'_ I moan mentally.

"Well, um, my mother, who lives in Phoenix, doesn't really like..." I trail off, suddenly losing my courage to come out to this boy, even when the rest of the school knew.

"What doesn't she like, Alex?" Edward probed, his voice curling around my name in a caress. I shiver before whispering,

"Gay people,"

Edward made an understanding noise and hesitantly put his hand on my shoulder, squeezing gently.

"She walked in on my and my boyfriend," I admit, flushing. Edward's face seemed to drop slightly at my words and I hurriedly added, "We're not together anymore. We decided that with the move it wouldn't work out," I wasn't sure why I was reassuring this gorgeous boy that I was single, but it made his face brighten once more.

"So because of that you came to live with your dad?" he asked, clarifying. I laughed nervously.

"No," I tell him, "It was more that she kicked me out. Didn't even give me my three weeks notice," I pouted at the pale boy, making him smile crookedly at me again. Unbidden, butterflies erupt in my stomach. _'Piss off,'_ I tell them, squashing the feeling down.

"That's not nice of her," Edward replied before becoming more solemn, "You put on a good show. You know that, right?"

"Huh?"

"I'd be willing to bet that you're suffering much more than this joking, flirty Alex is letting on," His eyes darkened with seriousness and I squirmed under his gaze.

"Yeah, well, 'life sucks and then you die'," I quote, avoiding meeting his eyes. The pale boy laughed humourlessly.

"Sometimes you don't truly," he murmured cryptically. I raise an eyebrow at him, confused, but don't pry.

"So what's with the 20 Questions?" I ask, turning the subject back to lighter water. The gorgeous boy thought for a moment before answering.

"I can't seem to read much from you, and it's frustrating me," he admitted, running a hand through his now-dry hair.

"Are you usually good at it?" I ask, curious. The pale boy sent me a smirk.

"You have no idea,"


	5. Chapter 4

**AN: As a late Christmas present, I present ANOTHER CHAPTER! Huzzah! And it's almost 5k words for you beautiful people. You're welcome. Edward is getting kinda stalkery, but oh well. He was in the canon anyway. I guess I'm just a sucker for possessive!Edward. And, as seems to be the usual with my Edward chapters, a teeny almost smutty part.**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Twilight, it would have been a LOT different.**

* * *

**Chapter Four**

The bell rang soon after, and Edward quickly got to his feet, crossing the room in before any of the other students had even put their books away. Realizing he had forgotten something, he turned to look back at the blonde boy, who was staring after him, and sent him a crooked smile and a slight nod. The vampire delighted at the way the boy's cheeks lit up a rosy pink, and made an effort not to breath in. '_That boy is as dangerous as he is enticing,_' Edward decided as he left the school, deciding to skip the rest of the day. He was having such a good day so far, he didn't want school to ruin the remainder of it.

Grabbing his brown leather book bag from his locker, the pale boy slung it over his shoulder and meandered out the back door. He heard the cries of a custodian after him, but the vampire paid him no heed. No way was he sticking around today.

The light drizzle of rain soaked him in a matter of minutes, but he didn't notice the cold that should have been seeping through him. Edward supposed that was one of the perks of being dead: not feeling too cold or too hot, and that was a definite upside in a place like Forks. As he hiked farther into the trees that surrounded the school, the rain slowed until only drips were felt through the canopy of leaves. Edward sighed in contentment and sat on a clean stone, leaning on a tree and tossing his bag beside him. Closing his eyes, the dark haired boy began to fantasize once more. His mind went to the meadow he had found days ago, and imagined Alex's face if he were to show it to him. With any luck the sunshine that had been there would still pour into the grassy field even on dreary days such as this. '_Alex would love it,_' Edward thought, smiling to himself.

Soon after, his thoughts turned to more adult imaginings. The setting and characters remained, but the plot had shifted dramatically. The human boy was lying writhing beneath him, his blonde hair a halo around his pale face. Small gasps escaped his lips as Edward kissed down his body, stopping to nip at sensitive areas. The vampire moved his mouth to just above the blond's fly, gazing up at him with dark pleasure.

'_How much do you want it?_' he asked, licking his lips slowly. The blonde panted. '_Say my name,_' the brooding boy demanded.

'_Edward. Edward!_'

The vampire jerked out of his fantasy guiltily as his sister's thoughts found their way into his head. He groaned. Of course she would be wondering where he was.

'_Yes, Alice?_' he projected, frustrated beyond belief. Was it too much to ask for some alone time now and again?

'_Why aren't you in class?_' the shrill voice in his head reprimanded him.

'_I'm busy,_' he returned, choosing to forcibly block out his sister's voice and return to his imaginings. Half an hour and an orgasm later, Edward removed his hand from his pants and stood, making an effort to look like he hadn't just had sex in a forest. It shouldn't have been that hard. After all, the sex part had just been in his head. After preening for another ten minutes, the pale boy wandered farther away from the school. Alice's voice had stopped barraging his mental defences, thankfully, so Edward decided to take the quiet to his advantage by exploring. Despite his having lived in Forks for a couple years, Edward had yet to really explore the nearby woods, always being forced to hunt at distance. The grey day seemed even darker in the depths of the woods, and the vampire was glad for his enhanced sight as he trudged on.

Soon he realized he had walked to the border between where his family could go and where the forbidden area was. The wolves' territory. Edward sneered slightly at the stench coming from the line and backed away a few feet to make sure he was really outside of the area. As he turned to go, another scent came to his nostrils. This one was more familiar to him. More pleasant, like his family. The pale boy stiffened, wondering if Alice had come chasing after him because he had been ignoring her, then shook the thought. This smell was slightly different. More feral than those of his adoptive family. Narrowing his eyes, Edward hunched down into his stalking form and crept towards the source of the odd scent. The closer he got, the more pungent it became, blocking out the wolves and their border, and was accompanied by another familiar smell: blood. Picking up his pace, Edward soon burst into a clearing where a deer lay, it's head torn savagely from it's body and thrown across the space, a trail of dried blood connecting the two. Flies rested on the exposed flesh, now rotting, and Edward's lips thinned. This wasn't the work of someone in his clan, nor was it a wolf. This was something else entirely, and Carlisle needed to know.

The vampire bent down to the animal and stroked its side sadly, murmuring his apologies, then stood and sprinted back towards his home. Trees rushed by at breakneck speed, and soon, Edward was at the door, flinging it open and dashing up to his adoptive father's study, where he knew he would be. The elder vampire spun around as his son entered, and raised a concerned eyebrow.

"What ever has you so concerned, Edward?" the doctor asked, standing immediately and going to the younger. Edward closed his eyes and opened his mouth, searching for the words to explain what he had saw.

"There are other vampires nearby," he finally settled on saying, opening his eyes and staring straight into Carlisle's. Instead of talking, Edward projected the memory into the doctor's head. A moment later, Carlisle lowered his head, brows furrowed in concern and confusion.

"Rogues I figure," he started, moving back to his desk slowly. "The scent you transferred is unknown to me, which makes me believe it is not from a clan." The elder vampire turned back to his son, his face gently smiling. "Thank you for telling me Edward. I will look into it, but it is my suspicion that they were just passing through. I will let you know, though. I suppose you aren't returning to school?" Edward shook his head. "Fair enough. It is all?"

Nodding, Edward left the room, deciding to play the piano. He had been avoiding it recently, in favour of hunting, running and daydreaming, but figured he could do with the distraction. Laying his fingers gently on the ivory keys, the pale boy began playing a song he knew like the back of his hand: Moonlight Sonata by Beethoven. The tragic melody filled the room, his head and his still heart, growing in intensity as he played. Edward soon lost himself in the familiar feel of playing the instrument he had had over a century to perfect playing. As the song came to a close, the vampire felt strangely empty. Without the music to distract him, his thoughts went back to the blonde boy he so desired. Unbidden, his fingers began dancing over the keys once more, expressing his feelings of longing, frustration, joy, and sorrow that surrounded all thoughts of Alex through song. Minutes or hours of playing later, Edward wasn't sure, he brought his composition to a close. A soft clapping filled the air and Edward started, turning his head to see Esme leaning on the frame of the door, a gentle smile on her face.

"That was beautiful, Edward," she praised, "Did you write it?"

"Just now," the pale boy admitted, looking back to the keys and wishing he had thought to write down what he had played. Perhaps Alex would have liked to have heard it. Esme made a humming noise and entered the room, sitting beside Edward on the piano bench.

"It did have that rough quality to it, but it was heart wrenching anyway. What made you think to write it?"

Edward pressed his lips together, unsure whether or not to tell his adoptive mother about the blonde boy. Surely she already knew, since her and Carlisle never kept secrets from one another, but it was different telling her to her face. Sighing, Edward decided he might as well be the one to tell her, rather than wait until Emmett found out and have him spread lies throughout the house.

"A boy at school," he answered. Esme's eyes widened slightly, as if she had not known at all. Edward silently thanked her for that. The words then began spilling out in a way that they only could to a mother. "He's different, Esme. I've never felt as strongly towards someone as I do towards him. I wondered if maybe it was because of his blood smelling so delicious, or whether it was that I couldn't read his thoughts, but it's more than that I believe. He's beautiful in a way I never thought anyone could seem to me, and funny. He's had quite a bit of trauma in his life, but he still appears so bright and energetic on the outside, even though I can tell he's suffering inside. I just can't keep him out of my head, Esme. I don't know what to do."

During his speech, the motherly vampire had began stroking Edward's hair as though he was a little boy again. The simple act soothed the pale boy in a way he never thought it could.

"What's his name, Edward?" Esme asked after a few moments of silence.

"Alexander Swan," Edward whispered, "But he likes Alex instead. He thinks Alexander is a mouthful."

Esme smiled and laughed. "He seems like a lovely boy," Edward nodded his agreement, letting the two fall into a comfortable silence. A question was nagging at him, however, and Edward had to know the answer.

"Does this mean I'm gay?"

Esme was silent for a moment, considering her answer. "I don't think it matters, dear," she started, "All that matters, to me at least, is that you truly feel this way about this boy, and that he does about you. Have you told him anything?" Edward shook his head vehemently, face feeling hot.

"I've only known him for a week, Esme," the pale boy commented.

"Ah, but love doesn't have to take forever to bloom, sweetheart," the Cullen matriarch informed Edward. "At least try to make him understand you like him," Edward made a noncommittal grunt and shrugged.

"Maybe,"

Esme sent the boy a disapproving look before standing and heading towards the door. Pausing in the opening, the woman said over her shoulder, "You should write that one down,". Edward stared after her, wondering what in the world she meant, before realizing it was the song. She wanted him to write down the song.

'_That could be easier said than done,_' he thought, frowning as he attempted to recall what he had played.

* * *

The next morning, Edward woke with a feeling of dread in his stomach, like something was going to happen. Something bad. Shaking off his fears, the vampire dressed sharply, intending to follow his mother's suggestion, and do something about the situation with Alex. Nothing would change if he wasn't proactive about it. Slipping on a dark red silk button up shirt, followed by a slate grey vest that fit him snugly, Edward glanced in the mirror: something he didn't tend to do in the morning. Caring what people thought of him wasn't something the vampire was disposed to do, but in this case, he seemed keen to make an exception. Frowning at his mess of hair, Edward ran his fingers through it in an attempt to tame it. The result seemed worse than before, and Edward mournfully looked away from his reflection.

The shock of still having a reflection was one of the major causes of confusion when he was turned. In all the stories he had ever been told or read, vampires didn't have reflections, and couldn't be seen in photographs. Edward grimaced. On top of being able to go outside in the day, there were many myths about being a vampire that seemed to be false. All that happened, as far as Edward knew, when he went in the sun was that his skin glowed with an unearthly light, seeming almost to shine like a diamond. The vampire disliked this reaction to an extreme. Not only was the sparkling degrading, his skin felt furiously itchy wherever the sun's rays touched it. As a matter of caution, Carlisle kept the Cullen children home on particularly sunny days.

Wandering to the window in his room, Edward noted that a layer of snow and ice now covered the world, clinging to the trees in an almost poetic way. Figuring he should throw on a coat for appearances, he headed down the stairs to the main room of the house. The high ceilings, arching doorways and copious windows were a 'selling point' of the home, or so he had been told by the realtor when Carlisle had been house hunting. The pale boy recalled the woman being more interested in the males of the Cullen family than selling the house, but the sale had been made either way.

As he opened the front hall closet to grab a stylish jacket, Edward heard the rest of his family preparing for their days. Emmett's thunderous footsteps crashed around the second floor, drowning out most of the rest of the family. The vampire could read how irritated Rosalie was this morning, probably due to her beau's bull-in-a-china-shop ways, and made a mental note to avoid her. It was a good thing she and Emmett rode separately from him, leaving him with quiet Jasper and eccentric Alice. '_Just what I need in the morning,_' he sighed, slipping into the coat.

"Jasper, Alice, five minutes, then I'm leaving!" he called up the stairs, raising his voice just enough so he could be heard. It wasn't his fault if they didn't listen.

Unfortunately, moments later, two bodies made their way down the stairs. Alice had an uncharacteristically dark look on her face, and the usual spring was missing from her step. Jasper had a hand on her shoulder, sending out waves of soothing feelings in an effort to comfort her. Stopping in front of him, the shorter vampire stared into Edward's eyes and filled his head with her vision.

The sound of metal crashing against metal filled his ears. A crowd of onlookers murmured concernedly between themselves. A single scream pierced the air, before the entire vision filled with red, smelling sickly sweet and warm. Closing his eyes, Edward broke off the contact and shook his head. There was no way that was related to his feeling this morning. Still, the feeling of dread grew in the pit of his stomach, distracting him the entire drive to school. Were it not for his decades of driving practice, he would have crashed the Volvo within the first minute of the drive. As it were, the ice covering the road, mixed with his inattention nearly had the car in the ditch.

Edward drove into the parking lot and quickly found a space, his stomach churning. This was the most likely place for the vision to happen. The mass of people, the numerous metal cars; Edward would have worried about being sick could he still get sick. A big red truck trundled loudly past him as he got out of the Volvo, and the pale boy's eyes tracked the blonde inside it. He seemed to be driving fine, and Edward noticed chains around the tires as the truck passed. '_At least it won't be him that crashes,_' the vampire thought, relieved, as Alex pulled into an empty parking space a few cars down. Unable to remove his eyes from the human boy, Edward watched as he exited his truck and inspected the tires, seeming to notice the chains for the first time.

Tires squealing cut through the air at that time, drawing the vampire's eyes away from the blonde. His mouth opening in shock, Edward stared at the blue van skidding across the parking lot, straight towards Alex. Darting his eyes back to the boy, he caught his eye, then sprinted towards him. There was no way in _hell_ he was going to let him die. Not now that he had decided what to do about him. It wasn't fair.

Soon, the vampire was next to the boy, wrapping his arms around him and dragging him out of the way of the car and putting his back to it to take the majority of the blow. Alex cried out in surprise, then in pain. Noticing what was wrong, Edward pushed the dented van away so that the human boy could pull his arm back from between the two vehicles. Swearing, the vampire stroked hair back from the blonde's face, making sure he was still conscious. Pain clouded the boy's brown eyes, and Edward noticed for the first time that he was wearing glasses. He spared a moment to wonder about them, then brought his attention back to the wounded boy in his arms.

"Alex," he murmured, "Alex, are you all right?"

The boy grunted, attempting to move his arm, then whimpered. Edward hushed him gently.

"May I see it?" the vampire asked, leaning back from the human and holding out a hand in question. After a moment of hesitation, Alex nodded. Carefully, Edward lifted his arm away from his chest and squeezed slightly in different places along it. The winces the blonde made along the majority of the inspection made Edward apologize quietly. "I don't think it's broken," he said as way of a diagnosis. In reality, the vampire knew very little about the human body, and had mostly just wanted a reason to touch the boy, but he would never admit to that. In the distance, Edward could hear the sound of ambulance sirens wailing, on their way. He'd leave the real diagnosis to Carlisle.

"Well that's reassuring," Alex muttered sarcastically. Then he blinked, looking confused. "How did you get here so fast?" Edward opened his mouth to reply, then turned to watch the ambulance drive into the lot.

"There's your ride," he said instead, starting to stand. A hand firmly around his wrist stopped him.

"Answer my question, Edward," the blonde demanded, his good hand clamped over the vampire's.

"I was right beside you," Edward improvised, not meeting the boy's eyes, instead looking towards the ambulance attendants and waving them over.

"No you weren't," Alex argued, "You were over with your family,"

"Please, just wait here," the vampire pleaded, "I should go tell them what happened,"

"It's cold here,"

Edward blinked down at the boy, at a loss for words. The human boy reached for a hand hold on his truck with his good arm. Startled, the vampire reached to help him, then sent him a curious look.

"I'm coming with you," the blonde boy explained, "Unless you tell me what really happened,"

Edward sighed heavily, closing his eyes. "Alex, can you please just wait until later, when I'm certain you aren't in shock?" The vampire opened them again to stare into the human's. "I promise I'll explain,"

Alex frowned, a look that made Edward wish he could pin the boy's pouting mouth to his. "I promise," he repeated.

"...fine," the blonde relinquished as the ambulance workers came forward with a stretcher. "I don't need that," he protested as the workers directed him to lay down. Edward couldn't help but stroke his hair again as the boy was settled.

"I'll just be up front," he told Alex as the boy was loaded into the back of the ambulance. Upon arrival at the hospital, Edward left the vehicle before the blonde was unloaded and headed into the hospital to find Carlisle and let him know what had happened. Projecting a meeting place to his adoptive father, Edward worked his way slowly, attempting to piece together a good enough reason to nearly blow their cover.

All too soon he was standing outside the door to the staff lounge of the hospital. The Forks medical clinic had only two floors, but all the medical knowledge they could ever need thanks to Carlisle. Edward was astounded how good he was with patients, no matter what condition they were in, bleeding or worse. He couldn't imagine the discipline the Cullen patriarch possessed. Taking a calming, yet unnecessary, breath, Edward pushed open the door and slid in. The room was empty but for the oldest Cullen.

"Care to explain why you displayed your powers in front of half of the teen population of Forks, Edward?" Carlisle asked mildly, not looking away from the window he was staring out. Edward looked down. The man had always had a way of making him feel like a child, despite him being over a century old.

"No one saw me move," the younger started.

"Yet no one saw you near the boy before the crash," the doctor continued in that same calm tone, "How will you explain to Alexander what happened?"

Edward opened and closed his mouth. He still wasn't sure how he was going to do that. He had promised, though, and going back on that would not bring him any closer to the boy.

"I told him I was beside him before the crash..." Edward answered slowly. Carlisle sighed heavily.

"That boy is not an idiot, Edward,"

"I know,"

"He will want to know the truth,"

"I _know,_"

"You know you cannot do that. You mustn't reveal us. For Alexander's sake, for the sake of his life and his innocence, you know you must keep this a secret,"

Edward narrowed his eyes. "Coming from the man who turned all of us," he spat back bitterly. Carlisle turned to face his adoptive son, face a blank mask. Edward dared slip into his thoughts and saw them rolling, just below a boil. The eldest vampire rarely got angry, and Edward had never had it directed at him. Edward swallowed, his mouth dry.

"That was different," Carlisle said stiffly, "I had no choice,"

"And neither do I." Edward stood tall, his head high, refusing to back down. "He deserves to know. I promised-"

"Do not make this decision because of an ill-placed promise, Edward. You will regret it," the doctor warned, "Ensure you are prepared for the consequences, and ensure that Alexander is as well,"

"His name is Alex," Edward muttered, lowering his head, gusto escaping him, "And I won't, Carlisle," The elder vampire nodded.

"Good. I best go check on the boy," Carlisle crossed the room and opened the door behind his son, "Coming?"

Edward nodded almost too eagerly, and rushed to follow the doctor. They arrived in the doorway as a dark skinned boy was exiting. He sent a shaky smile to Edward, and a nod to Carlisle. A bandage was wrapped around his head, and Edward noticed he walked with a slight limp. The vampire realized this must have been the driver of the van come to apologize. A nurse took the boy's arm and directed him down the hall, probably back to his own room.

Glancing into the room, Edward saw Carlisle checking over a surly looking Alex. The vampire couldn't help but laugh at the boy's look, and at the brace around his neck. Noticing him, the blonde glared at him. Edward couldn't help but grin in response, leaning on the wall as Carlisle checked the boy over.

"There appears to be a Grade II sprain on you wrist, but if you keep it wrapped in a tenser and in a sling, it should be back to normal in two to four weeks. You will see some bruising on your upper arm and hand, but nothing too major. And I'm seeing no sign of head injury, concussion or otherwise, so there's no need for this brace," the doctor diagnosed, reaching to undo the neck brace. Edward pouted at part of his fun being removed, but didn't intervene. "I'll just write you a prescription for some painkillers, and then you're free to go," Carlisle announced, shooting his eyes to Edward as he left the room. Once he was gone, a silence stretched between the two teens. The vampire had no idea how to start explaining what had happened without completely revealing himself.

"So this is fun," Alex commented, breaking him out of his thoughts. Edward smirked.

"I'll bet it is," he replied, "Too bad my father took away the brace. It was a good look for you," The vampire watched as a pillow was thrown awkwardly at him, hitting the floor a few meters away. "Good aim,"

"Stuff it, pretty boy," the blonde retorted, "Lucky you, having connections and not having to go through this," He looked so annoyed, Edward couldn't help but chuckle.

"Poor Alex had to suffer the horrors of the public health system,"

"Damn right, poor Alex. I'm scarred, now. Scarred! The old guy in the back of the ambulance kept checking me out the whole ride, while _someone_ was in the front being all cozy and un-creeped out, and when I get here, all these people I've never even talked to came to see how I was! I miss when everyone hated me at school,"

Throughout the monologue, Edward kept an amused quirk to his lips, ignoring how hearing about another man looking at the blonde made him feel. He reasoned that Alex was just in shock at the time and had misinterpreted.

"That sounds simply awful, my dear," the vampire mocked. Alex stuck out his tongue at the other teen.

"I wouldn't expect you to understand," the blonde sighed dramatically, "Speaking of understanding, care to explain now just what the hell happened?"

Edward swallowed, averting his eyes. "What do you think happened?" he asked, his tone harder than intended. The blonde's eyes widened slightly at his unfriendliness following the playful banter.

"Well," Alex started, "You weren't beside me. I _know_ you weren't beside me. And Tyler didn't see you either, so don't tell me I'm in shock. That's just a bullshit excuse. All I know is that you weren't there...and then you were. And there's a hand mark in my truck," The vampire gasped slightly. '_Fuck,_' he thought, not sure what to say about the hand print. Thankfully, he was saved from digging his hole further by Carlisle returning to the room.

"Here you are." He handed the bottle of pills to the blonde boy, seemingly oblivious to the tension that now filled the air. Edward watched as the boy mumbled a "thank you" and got to his feet, wincing as he bumped his sore arm. He wished he could explain everything to the human boy, but that was impossible right now. Alex would either think he was crazy and avoid him, or believe him and run away screaming. Either way was not what Edward wanted to happen. As the blonde reached him, their eyes met, and Alex sent him a look that clearly stated their conversation was not over. Edward countered the look with a crooked smile.

"Later, Edward,"

"I can't wait, Alex,"

* * *

Edward didn't return to school that day, and late at night found himself outside of the Swan residence, staring up at the window he had determined was Alexander's. He felt like a stalker, and probably looked like one, but the vampire couldn't really bring himself to care. Despite Carlisle's diagnosis, Edward wanted to make sure the human boy was still okay.

Climbing silently up a tree near the house, the vampire crept out to the end of the branch nearest Alex's window. A bedside lamp was still lit, and Edward could see the human boy lying on his bed, shirtless and reading. A book was propped against the sling his arm was in, something that Carlisle would protest to highly, and Edward couldn't read the title at the angle he was. Sitting carefully on the branch, the pale boy watched the human boy until the light in his room switched off and the house was dark. Even then, Edward didn't move. It wasn't until hours later that he left his post in the tree and set off to his own home. His family was no doubt wondering where he had been, but Edward wasn't going to indulge them with that information. No, tonight, at least, the vampire felt peaceful and content knowing that Alex was safe, and he wasn't keen on ruining that peace of mind for the sake of his family's curiosity.


	6. Chapter 5

**AN: Wow, this took me forever to finish. I will make lame excuses about being busy with my last year of high school and enjoying my last summer as a free woman. Now I'm in college and have nothing stopping me from writing for you all! Yeah...anyway, I like this chapter. This is the start of when the story will differ from the original Twilight. Some plot elements will still be present, but for the most part, this will be from my mind now. I'll try not to disappoint!**

**Without further ado, chapter five! Where the boys get friendly.**

**Disclaimer: Nope, still not mine. I don't think I'll ever have enough money to own Twilight.**

* * *

**Chapter Five**

The next morning, I woke up surprisingly refreshed. My sleep had been sound and calming, more so than any other night I'd slept in Forks yet. I threw off my covers and looked out the window; still raining. I frowned. I guess it hadn't been that it was clear. Maybe I was just getting used to the weather.

Shrugging, I got ready for another _wonderful_ day in Forks. The pronged instrument was quickly becoming my least favourite piece of cutlery. Maybe I'd _actually_ get hit by a car today. It'd sure get me out of this hellhole faster than anything else I could think of. I slipped awkwardly into the new rain jacket Charlie had bought for me as a present for being not dead (carefully minding my sprained wrist), wincing at the way the fabric squeaked as I moved. It wasn't ideal, obviously, but it would have to do. Call the fashion police: Alexander Swan is leaving the house.

The morning crept by achingly slow, and the eyes of seemingly everyone followed me once more. The eyes of everyone but Edward. I tried not to let it get to me. After all, we had had less conversations than I could fit on one hand; there was no reason for me to be upset when a beautiful guy who seemed vaguely interested in me suddenly stops talking to me. None. The stupid bipolar jerk.

By the time lunch arrived, I was sick and tired of being stared at like one of the slides in science class, and convinced Eric to sit outside with me, despite the rain. To my surprise, Tyler, the maniac van driver, insisted on coming with us. I noticed they had removed his head bandages, and his limp was not nearly as exaggerated as it had been the day before. Shrugging in response, I balancing my tray of food on one hand, then pushed the exit open with my shoulder. The rain had slowed to a drizzle, but, as always, was still present. An annoyed groan escaped me as I trudged out to a partly sheltered picnic table that I assumed was very seldom used. Really, no one in their right mind would want to have lunch outside in this weather.

I settled down on the vaguely soggy bench and put down my tray of food, gesturing to the other two boys to follow suit. Eric raised a sceptical eyebrow, then sat across from me, while Tyler immediately sat next to me, a bit too close than I thought necessary. A muffled snort came from Eric, making me aware my expression was plainly shown. Sure, Tyler was cute, but not really my type. No, tall, brooding, and mysterious seemed to be my tastes recently.

"So, what brings you to the dark side, Tyler?" I ask casually, picking up my sandwich. The dampness of the air had made the bread slightly soggy, but the tuna was still decent.

"I just feel really bad about the whole car incident, y'know?" he replies, putting his hand on my arm. My eyes go instantly to it, twitching slightly at the touch. My mouth was full of sub par sandwich, hindering my response, so I just nodded tensely. "I realized I hadn't been able to get to know you very well, and if you had been hurt badly, or even died, I would never get to," The hand squeezed, and I started to choke on my bite of food. Eric sat across the table, shoulders shaking with silent laughter. "All I ask is that you give me a chance to be your friend, and maybe later, something more?"

"I think Alex is better off going solo for now, bud," Eric cuts in, saving me. "But maybe in a month or so you should try again, eh?" He winks and I glare daggers into him. I finally swallow the food properly and compose myself to speak.

"Oh, but Ricky, we both know I'm saving myself for when you finally realize how in love with me you truly are," I say, putting a finger under Eric's chin and tugging him forward to brush our noses together. A sudden pain in my head makes me pull back. "Did you just headbutt me?" I complain, rubbing my forehead. Eric grins.

"It was but a love tap, Lexi,"

"Oh, piss off,"

I recalled that we had a guest, albeit a vaguely creepy one who had a thing for me, and smiled sheepishly at him.

"Sorry, Tyler," I apologize. "I just don't think that me being in a relationship is the best idea at this time, what with the general attitude towards gay people in this town,"

Tyler nodded, smiling good naturedly. "Well, if you ever change your mind, I'll be here," With one more squeeze, this time on my shoulder, he stood and retreated to the dryness of inside. The second the door closed behind him, Eric burst out laughing.

"Oh...my...god!" he sputtered between gasping breaths. I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah, yeah. It's not that funny, idiot,"

"You have _no_ idea how funny this is,"

* * *

Over the course of the next three weeks, Edward Cullen never spoke to me, not even in Biology, and I had only caught him looking at me once: when Jessica (who apparently still hadn't gotten the memo about my sexuality, despite the fact that I broadcasted it to the whole cafeteria on the first day) asked me to the girls' choice dance that was coming up. I'd always found "girls' choice" things as a cop out for actual equality between sexes. Why couldn't girls choose stuff outside of these events? It's the 21st century, folks, let's get it together.

Jessica was twirling her blonde hair around one finger, and pouting in a way that I supposed got guys to notice girls. I thought she looked akin to a duck. She smiled a too bright smile at me as I approached my locker, and I prepared myself for the worst.

"So Alex..." she started, leaning against my locker to keep me from getting into it.

"Yes, Jessica?" I replied, raising an eyebrow, "What can I do for you today?" I tried to reach around her to open my lock, but she stopped me with a perfectly manicured hand on my chest.

"I was wondering," Jessica continued, looking up at me through her lashes demurely, "If you'd like to go to the dance with me?"

I blinked at her for a moment, stunned. Then I found my voice and said the first excuse that came to mind, "I'm sorry, I already have plans to go to Seattle that weekend," I smile apologetically and shrug.

"Well, can't you go another time?" she demanded, nails curling through my shirt now.

"I really am sorry, but my dad and I have had this planned for weeks. Next time?" I offer to placate her. Her grip begins to loosen when I hear a voice call to me.

"Hey, homo!" Ah, yes. It had been a while since I had heard from my favourite person in the school. "Not enough guys willing to bend you over? You cutting into our pool now?"

"Of course, Mike," I reply, placing my hand over Jessica's, still on my chest. "I'm sure one of these lovely ladies is interested in doing that for me,"

"God, Mike," Jessica cut in, moving closer to me. Maybe after this confrontation she would understand that I didn't swing her way. "Just because I'd rather go to the dance with Alex than with you doesn't mean you have to be a jerk to him,"

_'Well, this should end well,'_ I think as the first punch hits me in the cheek. The crowd that had begun to gather 'ooh's as I fall to the ground. Mike had probably fifty pounds on me, but I was quicker. I could do this.

Looking over my shoulder, I saw Mike pulling back for a hit on my shoulder, and I rolled out of the way, leaving him to punch the tiled floor of the school. A string of curse words escaped him as he shook his hand. I straightened up as quickly as I could, keeping my eyes on the angry boy. As I couldn't hit worth a damn, it was up to Mike and his clumsiness to take himself down. The crowd had formed a circle around us, making the pitiful fight seem like an MMA battle.

Quicker than I thought he was capable, Mike punched me again, and I felt my lip split. The coppery tang of blood filled my mouth as I swore, ducking under the next punch and pushing the larger boy off balance as I did so. I dropped down into a crouch so I could manoeuvre easier for the next swing.

Mike charged at me next, as I thought he might, and I moved to the side swiftly, leaving one leg extended to catch his. As expected, he fell hard. I wasted no time jumping onto his back and pinning him to the ground. Hopped up on adrenaline and bravado, I leaned down and whispered in his ear, "Guess you're a bottom, Mikey,". Hearing teachers pushing their way through the mob of people, I released my hold on the larger boy and stepped back. Glancing away from Mike, I caught the eye of one brooding boy, whose eyes were once again dark. I frowned at that, and noticed the slightly panicked look on Edward's face at my scrutiny. The moment only lasted a few seconds, and Edward was gone again.

"What on _earth_ is going on here?" came the voice of the first teacher. I opened my mouth to reply, my jaw aching in response, but someone else beat me to it.

"Mike just attacked Alex," Tyler explained, "Alex was just defending himself," I put my hand to my mouth and pulled it back to see it quite covered in blood. '_Oh, this is great_,' I think as the world starts to spin. I dropped to my hands and knees, dizziness taking over. I'd always had a weak stomach when it came to blood, especially my own. I heard someone, probably Tyler, call my name, and warm, clammy hands trying to pull me up. Suddenly, the sweaty hands were replaced with another, much cooler, pair.

"I'll take him to the nurse," a deep voice said, gently holding me against them. I managed to glance up without hurling to confirm that it is indeed Edward helping me. I looked back to the floor, head pounding and stomach rolling. We slowly made our way through the crowd, and once around the corner, Edward swung my legs up and carried me bridal style.

"I _can_ walk, you know," I commented, snuggling into the embrace despite my words. Edward chuckled lowly.

"I just thought this would be a good time to take advantage of you, what with how helpless you are in your current state," The words were joking, but his voice had a suggestive quality to it.

"You don't need me to be helpless for me to let you take advantage of me," I replied, face buried in his shirt. He smelled like laundry, rain, and something purely masculine that I couldn't describe. Despite the coolness of his body (the boy needed a sweater, apparently), I was almost cozy.

"I'll keep that in mind," Edward murmured. I peeked out of his shirt and saw his dark eyes gazing down at me. I smiled innocently, ignoring the ache in my face at the action. The boy above me slid his eyes to my lips and I braced myself for a kiss that never came. Edward stiffened and looked back to the hallway ahead of us. I huffed a sigh.

We then fell into silence, both of us vaguely tense.

"I'm sorry," Edward said, breaking the silence. I raised an eyebrow, motioning for him to continue. "I thought that it would be better if we weren't friends, so I decided to avoid you," I glared at him. "Which I see now was probably not the best way to go about ending a friendship, but I've never really done this..._friend_ thing before,"

"Why not?" I asked, genuinely curious. Edward paused to think about his answer.

"I don't like talking about myself," he began, "I have a lot of secrets that could make a lot of people hate me," I snorted, disbelieving. No one could have _that_ many secrets.

"Everyone has secrets," I replied, "You don't have to tell your friends all of your secrets, though,"

"I'm also not much of a people person," Edward continued, as if I hadn't spoke, "I can't stand to be around most people for too long. Kids your age are generally so immature, as well. Take Mike, bullying you for something you can't change about yourself," I wondered momentarily why he had said kids "my age", as opposed to "our age", since he was in the same grade as I was, then shoved the thought to the back of my mind. It probably wasn't important.

"Here we are," Edward said, setting me down on my feet again, then pushed the door to the nurses office open. "I'll be back in a couple hours. You just get yourself cleaned up and rest," I looked at him sceptically, not quite believing him. "I promise,"

"You know, you haven't been very good at keeping your promises," I commented, walking through the door to the office. "But maybe I will see you in a few hours." The door swung shut behind me, leaving me alone in the room with the nurse, who immediately rushed up to me, fussing over my lip. I assured her it wasn't a big deal, but asked if I could lay down for a bit, quickly explaining my nausea. She nodded understandingly, cleaned my face and hand free of blood, and put me to bed in one of the cots in the small room. I laid there, thinking over the confrontation with Edward, but sleep finally took over.

* * *

_Soft lips caressed my neck, sucking, biting lightly. I moan softly, writhing under practised hands. "Edward," I gasp as the mouth nips at the junction between my neck and shoulder. My fingers thread into the head of hair, carding through the soft strands, before I feel the bite more sharply, causing me to fist my hands unintentionally. The bite sends a jolt of pleasure and pain through me, and I can feel my cock harden._

_ "More...please!" I beg, voice hoarse. A dark chuckle reaches my hearing, making me shiver. A warm tongue laps at my ear, breath panting almost as much as mine is._

_ "Such a needy thing," the voice chastises warmly, catching the lobe of my ear between teeth and sucking. My breath quickens and I begin to rut against the leg that is so perfectly placed between mine. Moans are spilling from my mouth now ceaselessly. The man above me finally captures my lips, and I can taste the coppery tang of blood on his tongue. "What shall I do with you, pet?" he murmurs against my lips. His teeth grab my bottom lip, kneading it. I stare up into amber eyes, dark with what I think is passion._

_ "Anything," I reply when I can, "Everything," The chuckle returns, and I can feel a cool hand slide between us, under my shirt. Another gasp slips out of me as fingers dance across my chest, teasing my nipples._

_ "Let me have you," the voice demands, dark eyes boring into mine. "All of you," I nod, and the lips return to my neck. This time the bite is not pleasant, and does not make me want to continue. Pain blossoms from the wound, burning through my veins. I scream, unable to get the teeth out of my neck. My vision slowly fades as the fangs retract. A hand strokes my face gently and, with my last bit of sight, look above me to see Edward, jaw covered in blood. My blood._

_ "Why?" I ask, voice barely audible._

_ "Because you are mine," he replies fiercely._

* * *

I sat up, sweat soaked and shaking. My breath came in ragged gasps, and I noticed my pants felt tight. I couldn't recall anything that had been in the dream, only that it had scared and aroused me in equal measures, and that there was a pair of dark eyes. I ran both hands through my hair in frustration, cursing the fact that I couldn't remember anything else from a dream that had clearly affected me greatly. I belatedly noticed the hand on my shoulder, and I turned to meet the same eyes that had gazed at me in my sleep. I jumped away, skittish, before recognizing the person as Edward. A very concerned looking Edward.

"Alex, is everything all right?" he asked, brows furrowed as he grasped my chin and inspected my face for signs of harm.

"Fine," I said too quickly. His frown became more prominent, and he opened his mouth to argue. "I...I really am fine, Edward," I could tell from his expression that he was less than believing of my words, but he dropped my chin anyways and moved back to a more reasonable distance. The taller boy coughed to break the silence we had fallen into and began to speak.

"It's lunch time, now," he commented, "Would you...want to spend it with me?" I raised an eyebrow incredulously.

"I thought you didn't _do_ friends,"

"I've decided to give up trying to be good," he replied cryptically, then held out a hand to help me stand. I took it, hauling myself to my feet, and managed not to stumble into him when a head rush hit me.

Edward lead me to the cafeteria, continuously checking over his shoulder to make sure I hadn't fallen and died on the way, presumably. I caught Eric's eye as I went to get a tray of food and shrugged at him as he motioned to the brooding boy next to me. Edward took hardly any food, while I piled my tray high. I frowned at that, wondering how he wasn't more hungry, what with how tall he was. Following him to an empty table, somewhat secluded from the stares that were tracing us across the room, I marvelled at the mystery that was Edward Cullen.

We sat, me with my back to the rest of the room, my companion facing out. I began to eat, tucking into the food I bought, while the tall boy opposite me just watched. After I had scarfed down half a box of fries, I met his eye.

"Something the matter?" he asked, arching one perfect eyebrow in query.

"I'm trying to figure out what you are," I replied, sipping from a juice box. Edward flinched slightly at the word 'what', hardening my beliefs. "I can't believe that you just were in the right place at the right time when Tyler's van was coming at me," I told him, eyes hard, "I distinctly remember you not being next to me. I would have known if you were," His eyebrows raised, disappearing under his fringe.

"Would have 'known', huh?" he prodded, caramel eyes twinkling with pleasure. I flushed, noting that his eyes had changed colours since earlier in the day. "You're that attentive when I'm around?"

"Shut up," I told him, looking down at my food to hide my blush, though I knew he had already seen it. "This isn't about me. This is about you being...not normal,"

Edward sobered, face blanking once more.

"Are you some sort of superhero?" I mused, tapping a fry to my lips as I studied his face. He snorted a laugh. "Bitten by a radioactive spider? Does kryptonite worry you? Afraid of bats?"

"Are any of those questions supposed to even mean anything?" Edward sighed, feigning exasperation and running a hand through his hair.

"I'm just making sure you aren't one of those guys who dresses up in tights in his spare time," I defended. "You really don't know what any of those referred to?"

"Should I?" he questioned. I shrugged.

"Not necessarily. I was just really into comic books a few years ago," I admitted. "So what are you if you aren't a superhero?" Edward's face darkened again.

"What if I'm not a superhero?" he asked, a strained smile on his lips, "What if I'm the bad guy?"

"You're dangerous?" I guessed. My blood ran cold. Of course. I was stupid. He had been hinting at that since the first time we met. I purse my lips. "But not bad," I told him with a shake of my head. "I can't see it," His eyes had gone nearly black, not a trace of a smile on his face.

"You're wrong," he whispered to the table. I wasn't sure I had heard him correctly at first. Frowning, I placed my hand over his tensely clasped ones.

"Prove it," I dared him, squeezing the ever-chilled appendages. His eyes sped up to my face, disbelief written all over him. One of his fingers curled up over my hand, holding it in place. We stayed like that for the rest of lunch, though our talk was in much lighter topics. I tried not to get too distracted when Edward's finger began tracing over the back of my hand, sending light shivers through me. I was both disappointed and pleased when the bell rang, signalling the end of lunch. Reluctantly pulling back my hand, I smiled at the tall boy.

"Let's do this again sometime," I winked playfully. "You coming to bio today, partner?" Edward smiled in return.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world,"

* * *

Biology was much more tolerable now that I had a lab partner who treated me like an actual person. We worked quickly through assignments, and Edward actually let me answer some of the work without questioning me. I counted this as a remarkable improvement from previous weeks. I still got dirty glares from Mike once he was back from his suspension (I had gotten off with just a warning since I had been defending myself), but he never tried to attack me again.

Eric told me on Friday that Mike and his friends had plans to go camping at La Push, an Indian reserve that had wonderful beaches, so I heard. I still wondered how someone like him had any friends to go camping with. After assuring me that we wouldn't get caught, Eric convinced me to play some minor pranks on the group while they were away. As much as I didn't want to get into trouble again so soon after the fight, the idea was tempting, so I agreed. I asked Eric if he'd mind Edward coming along and got a shrug in response.

I proposed the idea to Edward in Biology that day and was met with a very forceful denial.

"I don't do beaches," he said in way of explanation. I pouted at him, crossing my arms.

"We aren't _going_ for the beach," I stressed, "We're just going to pull a couple pranks, and I figured your superhuman speed and strength could come in handy!" That comment got me a pointed glare. I huffed, throwing my hands in the air. "Fine, I'll just have to get one of the nice locals there to help me," The glare hardened.

"Alex," Edward warned, his no-nonsense face on. "Please behave yourself this weekend if you do go to La Push. And be careful,"

"I'm always careful," I replied, receiving a sceptical look. "But seriously, why won't you come? Eric doesn't mind,"

"I'm going away with my family for the weekend," he finally admitted. I couldn't keep the look of disappointment off my face.

"Oh, okay," I replied, turning back to my finished work. "Sorry for bugging you," I felt Edward place his hand on my shoulder, the coolness seeping through my cardigan.

"Next time you need me for a prank, I'm there," he told me, squeezing lightly, "Just say the word and I'll be there, okay?" I looked up at him and saw the sincerity in his eyes, and nodded. "I'd try to come with you this time, but we've had this trip planned for weeks now, and Carl—my father wouldn't like it if I tried to get out of it," I nodded again, meeting his eye and smiling slightly.

"I'm holding you to that, by the way," I told him. Edward laughed. I leaned forward, craving the rich sound like a drunk craved alcohol. '_This is getting embarrassing_,' I told myself, but I couldn't take my eyes off his smiling mouth. I wondered how it would feel pressed against mine, sliding down my body. I imagined Edward would be gentle the first time, then gradually become more dominant. I shivered, picturing it, and immediately averted my eyes from the boy before me. He had no reason currently to think that I was imagining having sex with him on a near daily basis. I flirted with everyone. If people thought I liked Edward, then they probably thought I was wanting in Eric's pants too.

There was even less of a reason for me to think that Edward might like me back. So I was the only friend he had; that didn't mean that he was in love with me. Besides, we'd only known each other for just over a month. I assumed that what I had to him was just a physical reaction, since he was pretty much the most gorgeous man I'd ever seen in my life, and that it would fade in time. I didn't want to deal with his mood swings, his bouts of treating me like I wasn't even there, or his stupid colour changing eyes, did I?

"Penny for your thoughts?" the smooth voice interrupted my pondering. I jumped, having forgotten I was in class.

"Um," I said eloquently, "Just...nothing important," I obviously couldn't have told him I was wondering whether I wanted to date him or just jump his bones. That would go over well, clearly: Hey, Edward, I was wondering if you'd like to fuck me or not. Thoughts?

Yes, that was not exactly the thing to say at this time.

"You sure?" Edward prodded, brow furrowed in a way that made me want to smooth it out, "Because from your troubled expression it's not nothing,"

"Very sure," I replied quickly, "In fact, I'm extra sure." Edward huffed.

"Why are you so hard to read?" he grumbled, leaning his chin delicately in one hand.

"Why are you so nosey?" I returned, mimicking his position. Edward chuckled.

"Because you're very interesting to me, Alex," I ignored the way my face flushed at his comment. I opened my mouth to reply, but was mercifully cut off by the bell signalling the end of the period.

"Have a good weekend, Edward," I told him, smiling brightly. "See you next week!" I scooped up my belongings and met Eric walking to the door. All the way out the door I could feel Edward's eyes burning into my back.

"What was that about?" Eric asked as we cleared the room and disappeared into the mob of people all leaving classes.

"What was what about?" I blinked innocently at him and earned myself a glare.

"I'm talking about the way you and Edward were undressing each other with your eyes in there," I scoffed at him.

"Hardly. He's not interested in me," My mind went back to what the tall boy had said not five minutes ago about my being interesting. "Well, not in _that_ way,"

"_Sure_ he's not," Eric said, sounding not agreeing in the slightest.

"And I undress everyone with my eyes," I argued. Eric snorted.

"Well, _that's_ true, at least," he agreed, "Though I can't blame you for doing it with Cullen,"

"Oh, do you have a crush too, Eric?"

"'_Too_'? Oh, man. You've got it bad,"

"Oh, fuck off,"


End file.
